We are not going to spare Mallya, we are after him: PNB chief

Says the bank will leave no stone unturned to recover unpaid loans

Punjab National Bank, which had earlier this year declared Vijay Mallya's United Breweries Holdings a wilful defaulter, says it will leave no stone unturned to recover unpaid loans.

"We are not going to spare Mallya, we are after him and we will get the money back," said Usha Ananthasubramanian, chief executive officer and managing director, Punjab National Bank, on the sidelines of the Gyan Sangam in Gurgaon.

PNB has an exposure of Rs 800 crore in this case and the wilful defaulter tag is with regards to the loans taken by Mallya for now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Apart from PNB, State Bank of India - which is leading a consortium of banks that lent to Mallya - and United Bank of India have declared him a wilful defaulter. So far, the lenders have been unsuccessful in their attempts to recover the unpaid loans.

Recently, SBI petitioned the Debt Recovery Tribunal in Bengaluru, seeking Mallya's arrest, impounding of his passport and full disclosure of his family's assets. Mallya and Kingfisher Airlines owe about Rs 7,800 crore to the lenders.

On Friday, Minister of State for Finance, Jayant Sinha, said that steps were being taken to ensure that banks are able to recover the loans.

Recently, PNB had also declared a list of 904 defaulters that owed the bank close to about Rs 11,000 crore and is exploring various ways, including legal recourse, to recover the money.