NARCL: Rs 50,000 crore loans to be transferred to bad bank by April-end, says Union Bank MD

Transfer of 15 bad loan accounts worth Rs 50,000 crore to the National Asset Reconstruction Company could not be completed within the deadline due to procedural delays, Union Bank of India Managing Director and CEO Rajkiran Rai G on Wednesday said, and assured that the process will conclude by the end of April.

In January this year, State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Dinesh Khara had said that the National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL) received all approvals to commence operations, and a total of 38 NPA accounts worth Rs 82,845 crore were identified to be transferred to the bad bank in a phased manner.

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In the first phase, banks agreed to transfer 15 NPA (Non-Performing Asset) accounts worth Rs 50,000 crore by March 31, 2022.

Union Bank MD on Wednesday said that the transfer of these stressed assets is expected to take place by this month-end.

"We were trying to do that before March 31, but we couldn't complete all the processes. For the first time, we are doing a structure like this. There are lots of rules and procedures to be followed. By March 31, all the capitalisation part had to happen. Private banks needed some approvals to come in, and we have got the permission. The capital has come in, and it (NARCL) is 100 per cent capitalised as per the plan," Rai told reporters.

"We may see it (Rs 50,000 crore of NPA transfer to NARCL) happening very quickly by April-end," he added.

Rai, former chairman of the Indian Banks Association, also said the appointment of NARCL's CEO is likely to happen anytime soon.

Last month, while Bank of India invested Rs 109 crore in NARCL, Punjab & Sind Bank bought 2 per cent stake in the bad bank for Rs 55 crore.

In her Budget 2021-22 speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the setting up of a bad bank as part of the resolution of stressed loans worth about Rs 2 lakh crore in the banking system.

While NARCL has been set up to acquire identified NPAs from banks, the India Debt Resolution Company Ltd (IDRCL) has been entrusted with handling the debt resolution process.

NARCL will try to identify and acquire assets on a 15:85 ratio of cash and security receipts (SRs). SRs, to be issued in favour of the transferring lenders, will be secured by government guarantee for its face value, the finance minister had said.

In September last year, the government had announced providing guarantee worth Rs 30,600 crore to security receipts issued by NARCL. The guarantee is valid for five years.