Working on next steps for NPAs resolution: RBI's Vishwanathan

The bad loans of state-run banks at the end of last September rose to Rs 6.3 lakh crore

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday said it was working on the next steps for the resolution of the stressed assets or non-performing assets (NPAs).

"We are working on the next steps on NPAs, for resolution of the stressed assets," RBI Deputy Governor N S Vishwanathan said here at a press briefing after the monetary policy review.

The government in May had passed the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017, that allowed more power to the RBI to tackle the NPAs' issue. It has been empowered to issue directions to commercial banks to initiate insolvency proceedings for recovering bad loans.

The RBI's IAC (Internal Advisory Committee) has chosen top 12 NPA accounts for insolvency which has outstanding debt of above Rs 5,000 crore, Essar Steel being one of them.

Essar Steel had a debt of Rs 45,655 crore, of which Rs 31,671 crore had turned NPAs for banks by March 31, 2016. This increased to Rs 32,864 crore by March 31 this year.

The NPAs, or bad loans, of state-run banks at the end of last September rose to Rs 6.3 lakh crore (almost $100 billion).