At 12%, banks in Odisha have higher NPA than national average

Maximum slippages noted in loans advanced to farm and education sectors

The non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks in Odisha stood at 11.95 per cent as on December 31, 2016 with maximum slippages noted in the loans advanced to the agriculture and education sectors.

Though bad loans crisis is a nationwide phenomenon, the gross NPAs of banks operating in Odisha at 11.95 per cent is higher than the pan-India average of 9.3 per cent (as on December 2016) of both public and private sector banks.

In Odisha, out of the total outstanding advances of Rs 1,05,109.84 crore to priority and non-priority sectors, the NPA stood at Rs 12,557.10 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2016.

A loan or advance for which the principal or interest payment remains overdue for 90 days or more is classified an NPA.

The NPA rate in the state is the highest in case of agriculture term loans, at 17.83 per cent. For the overall agriculture sector, the rate stood at a staggering 13.48 per cent.

The rate for MSMEs is 12.87 per cent, and 14.45 per cent and 7.28 per cent for education and housing loans respectively. For advances made to priority sectors the rate is 13.32 per cent compared to 9.62 per cent in non-priority sectors. NPAs of public sector banks, private sector banks, regional rural banks (RRBs) and co-operative banks stood at 14.84 per cent, 0.75 per cent , 22 per cent and 7.03 per cent respectively.

Banks having NPA percentage above the state average are Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda, Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Punjab National Bank, the country's largest lender State Bank of India, UCO Bank and the regional rural banks -- Odisha Gramya Bank and Utkal Grameen Bank.

"The banks are facing problems in recycling funds owing to non-repayment of loans, mounting overdues and rising NPA per cent. Banks and government departments have to make joint efforts with specific strategies to improve recovery performance for better cycling of funds," said SLBC in its report for the quarter ending December.

For the Prime Minister's Rozgar Yojana (PMRY), Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY), Self Help Groups (SHG), Weaver Credit Card (WCC), the NPA and overdue percentages are very high, and can only be rated as unsatisfactory, stated the quarterly report prepared by State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC), Odisha.

NPA rates for PMRY and PMEGP, SHG, NULM (National Urban Livelihoods Mission) and WCC are 38.08 per cent, 25.44 per cent, 21.07 per cent and 18.71 per cent respectively.

The overdue percentage of banks in Odisha stood at 37.49 per cent as on December end, 2016. Any amount due to the bank under any credit facility is 'overdue' if it is not paid on the due date fixed by the bank.