MUMBAI, May 11: Unit Trust of India (UTI) is unlikely to have to declare a daily net asset value (NAV) for its flagship US-64 scheme. This, sources said, is because the scheme is no longer an equity scheme, with the portfolio tilting more towards debt in the course of the past year.

Unit Trust, is however, seeking a clarification on the matter from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

The Sebi directive of April 30, on daily declaration of NAVs has been targeted towards open-ended equity oriented schemes of all mutual funds including Unit Trust. Sebi officials admitted that the application of this directive to US-64 scheme was still to be decided. ``It is up to Unit Trust to prove/disprove the classification of the scheme as a equity scheme. We will ofcourse have the final say in the matter,'' they said.

Unit Trust had announced last year that the scheme was being restructured so as to be a debt scheme. Figures indicating the new portfolio composition are however as yet unavailable. Unit Trust, it may be mentioned had not indicated any time frame for the restructuring to be completed.

US'64 has never declared a net asset value to date. The trust's main problem is one of logistics. The scheme is too huge and has servicing centres all over the country. To obtain the daily figures of sales and repurchases would be quite a mammoth task as of now. However, Unit Trust is working toward a solution for this. By June 1, all its branches are scheduled to be interconnected by means of a V-sat network, making data transmission easier. Meanwhile, the trust has annouced a book-closure period of May 19-June 30 for the purposes of taking on the accounts.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.