2G: Banks have Rs 28k cr exposure to telcos, says Pranab

Banks have a total exposure of about Rs 28,000 crore to telecom companies for activities relating to licence fee and rollout of 2G services, the government said today.

"The banks' total outstanding exposure to companies for 2G related activities [including licence fees, rollout of 2G services, erection of towers, capital expenditure and other operational expenditures] as on December 2011 stood at about Rs 19,135 crore in respect of public sector banks and about Rs 8,803 crore in respect of private sector banks.

"These include exposures to companies whose licences have been cancelled," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in a reply in the Lok Sabha.

He added that most of these loan accounts were regular as of February 1, 2012 and "by and large secured in the form of various tangible and other securities".

Also, he said, the outstanding credit from PSBs and private sector banks to the entire telecom sector stood at Rs 76,977 crore as on December, 2011.

To another written reply in the lower house, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said that as reported by RBI, that as of December 2011, total outstanding credit to the power sector exposure stood at Rs 2,62,532 crore.

The amount includes loans from State Bank Group, private sector lenders and foreign banks.