The Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) and the State Bank of India (SBI) have said they are not "sponsors" of the mutual fund behemoth Unit Trust of India (UTI) and hence are not responsible for bridging the shortfall in UTI's assured return schemes.
In calendar year 2002, five assured return schemes are due for redemption and the shortfall is pegged at around Rs 1,800 crore as of today, though this could come down as the Sensex is rising.
The spat between the UTI management and the two financial intermediaries was triggered off by a letter dashed off by UTI chairman M Damodaran reminding them of their responsibility to make good any shortfall in guaranteed return schemes during the year.
The letter, sent last month to the three main promoters of the trust
