Aspire to take Peerless to next level, new chairman Partha Bhattacharyya

Kolkata: Partha Bhattacharyya, the former Coal India chief who took over as the new chairman of the Peerless Group on Friday, said he aspires to take the Kolkata-based group to "the next level".

Peerless, a diversified group with interests in areas like finance, hotel, healthcare, realty and tourism, has been able to turn around from a negative net worth of Rs 600 crore to a positive net worth of Rs 2,000 crore in the last decade.

Bhattacharyya, who was instrumental in bringing out Coal India's IPO in 2010 raising as high as Rs 15,200 crore, told PTI in an interview on his first day in office that the challenge for him is "immense" as the group had been under the able leadership of former Unilever chairman S M Dutta.

Bhattacharyya who is already on the boards of several listed companies said, "Every organisation has its own challenges & opportunities when it comes to transformation. The imperatives are broadly similar at a conceptual level.”

“Hence, I look forward to an exciting journey ahead, with a competent management team that the group already has, for taking the group to the next level," he said.

The group has come a long way from a negative net worth of over Rs 600 crore to a positive Rs 2000 crore, he said.

“The job at hand for the next 10 years is to consolidate on the gains and focus on opportunities for growth with profitability and sustainability across verticals," Bhattacharyya said.

Peerless salvaged itself from the blow after the banking regulator RBI barred the group's then flagship company, Peerless General Finance & Investment, from accepting public deposits from March 2011 and directed it to refund all the money ahead of their respective maturities. Peerless has successfully refunded over Rs 20,000 crore and restored its "credibility".

Asked about details of his strategy, Bhattacharyya said, "All I can share at this stage is that the management has initiated a process of introspection and created a strategic roadmap for the group and the verticals," Peerless is inducing more professionals into its board.

At the AGM held on Friday, the company inducted Partha Bhattacharyya and Supriyo Sinha as directors.

Sinha has been appointed as the Wholetime Director designated as Director-Business Transformation and Corporate Strategy.