Govt of India expands Satyam Board

NEW DELHI, INDIA: The Government of India on Thursday appointed three new members to the board of Satyam Computer Services, even as member Deepak Parekh said the IT firm can raise funds by mortgaging assets - dispensing with the need for central assistance.

The three men added to the new Satyam board on Thursday are Tarun Das, chief mentor of leading industry lobby Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), T.N.Manoharan, former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, and S.Balakrishnan of state-run insurer LIC. The expansion comes two days before the board is to hold its second meeting - on January 17.

The government had appointed Deepak Parekh, Kiran Karnik and C. Achuthan as board members of Satyam last Sunday.

Satyam, India's No. 4 software services exporter, has been battling for survival since founder Ramalinga Raju resigned as chairman last week, saying profits had been falsified for years and $1 billion of cash and bank balances did not exist.

While announcing the appointment of the new Board members, India's Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta, ruled out any bailout package at this instance.

"The first impression from the government-nominated directors about the company is that its operations are sound and by and large major customers are willing to remain with the company," he said.

Ruling out the bailout plan of Satyam,  Parekh said: "Until we know the real position, how can we speak of bailout... The company has receivables of Rs 1,700 crore.... financial assistance can be generated by hypothecating some of the assets of the company".