Gross NPAs of PSBs jump nearly Rs 80,000 crore in July to September

Public banks have seen nearly Rs 80,000 crore increase in gross non-performing assets (NPAs) in the three months ended September 2016.

As on September 30, gross NPAs of public sector banks rose to Rs 6,30,323 crore as against Rs 5,50,346 crore by June end.

This works out to an increase of Rs 79,977 crore on quarter on quarter basis.

"The government has taken sector-specific measures (infrastructure, power, road textiles, steel etc) where incidence of NPA is high," Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

He listed measures like enactment of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and amendment of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act (SARFAESI) and the Recovery of Debt due to Banks and Financial Institutions (RDDBFI) Act aimed at improving resolution or recovery of bank loans.

Besides, he said, RBI has come out with a number of tools such as corporate debt restructuring, formation of Joint Lenders' Forum, strategic debt restructuring scheme and sustainable structuring of stressed assets to fight NPAs.

In another reply, Gangwar said that out of Rs 2.80 lakh crore loans to the iron and steel sector at the end of June, Rs 1.24 lakh crore has gone bad, which works out to 44.54 per cent.

Replying to another question, Gangwar said no corporate loan waiver has been done by the government.

The loan write-off by banks is based on RBI guidelines and board-approved policy, he said, adding that loans are written off after appropriate provisions have been made to take advantage of tax benefits and capital optimisation.

In respect of technical write-offs, RBI has permitted so at the head office level while recovery efforts are still on at the branch level, he said.

During the first quarter ended June 2016, public sector banks have written off Rs 15,163 crore loans as against Rs 5,441 crore.

In the the last fiscal, public sector banks had written off Rs 59,547 crore while private peers Rs 12,017 crore.