2,500 wilful defaulters may get to recast debt

 The committee, headed by J N Godbole, executive director of the Industrial Development Bank of India, has recommended that a company should be declared a wilful defaulter only if 75 per cent of the lenders approve of the proposal.

 Under the present dispensation, even if one bank or financial institution reports a case, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) declares the borrower a wilful defaulter.

 Institutional sources said the panel was of the opinion that the present norms were creating problems for companies and the banking system.

 In a number of cases, the RBI has declared a borrower a wilful defaulter on the basis of just one foreign bank