Udit Prasanna Mukherji | TNN

Kolkata: India Inc is perhaps sitting on a pledge bomb. Exactly one month since Sebi came out with disclosure guidelines regarding share pledging, data reveals that the promoters of more than 75 Indian companies have pledged more than 30- 40% of their equity In some cases, shares pledged account for more than 75-80% of the promoters' stake in the company At companies like Kitply even the entire shareholding of promoters is pledged.

Promoters of prominent companies like Asian Paints, JSW Steel, Reliance Infra, BPL Ltd, Zandu Pharma, Cinemax, UTV Software, Falcon Tyres, Hindustan Motors, Apollo Tyres, J K Cement, SRF, Oricon Enterprises, Shyam Telecom, Teledata Informatics, Kingfisher Airlines, Unitech, Andhra Cement, Rain Commodities, Kirloskar Electric etc have pledged more than 30 % of their equity to lenders.

In companies like Cinemax, HM, Kingfisher Airlines, Andhra Cement, Zandu Pharma, Unitech, Falcon Tyres, SRF etc, promoters have pledged more than 70-75% of their stake.

The leading lender to these companies are State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, IDBI Trusteeship Company, HDFC, IL&FS, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bank of Rajasthan etc.

In the case of Teledata Informatics, promoters have pledged almost 90% of their holdings. Promoters hold 25.23% in the company and they have pledged over 21.28% of the company's shares which means the promoters only have 4% free shares with them. G P Goenka Group, promoters of Andhra Cement, has pledged 57.75% of the company's equity where its holding is 72%, or 80% of promoters' holding. Market analysts feel the trend could be dangerous if promoters have pledged shares for purposes not in the company's interests. Institute of Company Secretaries eastern India regional council chairman Ashok Parik said the most important aspect of share pledging is the objective of the pledging and the institution to whom shares are pledged. "Financial institutions generally sell shares when there is a margin call. So if the exposure is high, there is a risk involved in this," he said. "If it is for expansion or any other purpose that is related to the company then there is nothing wrong in it. But if the promoters pledge shares for own purposes, then it may be counterproductive," CD Equisearch director Rajesh Agarwal he said. Arun Kejriwal, founder of KRIS, opined that when shares are pledged with NBFCs and the money is taken for personal purposes, then it is dangerous for the company.