LVB a strategic asset, must not be handed over 'free of cost': Promoter

K R Pradeep, one of the 25 promoters of LVB, said that RBI should revisit the troubled lender's valuation

Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) is a strategic asset that must not be given to DBS Bank India "free of cost", said a promoter of the Chennai-based lender that was on Tuesday put under moratorium for a month. 

LVB is set to be folded into the Indian unit of Singapore's DBS under a plan proposed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which took over the lender due to a "serious deterioration" in its finances. LVB has been in rough weather since a few years. In September, shareholders voted against seven board members—including interim MD and CEO S Sundar — at