Although the RBI report does not spell out the details of collections, it appears that the outflow from UTI's beleagured flagship, US '64 has pulled down the figures on mobilisation. Added to it are redemptions from Masterplus, which went open-end on October 1 this year.

It is evident that collections and redemptions at UTI will solely determine the general performance numbers of the fund industry. Despite the 47 per cent drop, private sector mutual funds led by open-end debt schemes continue to rake in the moolah. According tofigures released by Association of Mutual Funds in India, collections by private sector mutual funds was up 33 per cent in the first six months of the current fiscal over the corresponding period last year.

``The gap at UTI has widened between the first seven months of 1997-98 and 1998-99. Clearly, redemptions/withdrawals have outstripped collections and the bulk has come from UTI,'' says an analyst. It may be recalled that UTI had garnered over Rs 350 crore in October last year when it announced the closure of Children's Career and College Gorwth Fund, where it had assured a payout of 14 per cent per annum. This saw a sudden rush for investments in the fund. Similarly, the redemption of one of its funds with a corpus of Rs 900 crore was more than offset by collections under one of the monthly income plans in 1997.

In the first seven months of the current fiscal, as many as 23 funds have been launched which included 9 funds from UTI and one Dhanvarsha plan from LICMF. The 23 funds mopped up over Rs 3700crore with UTI contributing a hefty Rs 3375 crore, a little over 90 per cent. This included one of the largest subscriptions of Rs 1400 crore under monthly income plan, launched in August.

``Either way you look at it, collections by the fund industry are dependent on what UTI manages. The collections by the private sector or other mutual funds are paltry in UTI's comparison,'' says a fund manager.