Committee likely to go into sector-specific NPAs of PSBs

Govt looking at steel, aluminium and textile sectors, says Duggal

The finance ministry might set up a committee under Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha to look into sector-specific non-performing assets (NPAs) of state-owned banks.

"That was discussed at a meeting of the finance minister with the heads of PSU (public sector undertaking) banks. It's too early to get into specifics... it will certainly have a more focused look at certain sectors," Financial Services Secretary Anjuly Chib Duggal said on Friday at a conference.

Gross NPAs of state-owned lenders rose to 6.03 per cent of gross advances at the end of June, against 5.20 per cent in March.

"NPA is a matter of concern and the government is vigilant in this regard. The government is looking into the problems faced by steel, aluminium and textile sectors," Duggal said at the seminar on payments banks. These are the sectors which have a high share of total NPAs of public sector banks (PSBs).

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley chaired a review meeting of PSBs on Monday. Jaitley had called the NPA levels "unacceptable". He had attributed the rising stress levels of banks to the problems of the past and also said the department of financial services would coordinate with the department of revenue and the banks to address the issue.

Sinha said, "NPAs are a result of many factors. There is not one silver bullet that is going to deal with them... It will require us to take a multi-dimensional approach."

Jaitley on Monday had urged bankers to get rid of their past scars of NPAs and clean up their balance sheets at the earliest and assured of full support in terms of policy corrective measures. The government has infused Rs 20,000-crore capital into PSBs as the first tranche of capital infusion under the Indradhanush programme, a seven-pronged strategy announced in August.

On the Indian Overseas Bank issue, Duggal said, "There is a mechanism already to check fraud. Fraud is clearly an issue. It's is an area of concern."

On financial inclusion, she said differentiated banking was very much on the cards. "Geographical differentiation is going to happen. With smaller banks serving smaller areas, trust gets better and outreach is better and personal," she said.

She stressed on the need for lowering of the cost of delivery to push financial inclusion. "We are looking at moving a little further towards lowering costs in delivery of products," the secretary added.

On the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana, Duggal said good response led to Rs 27,000 crore as deposits under the scheme. At the same time, she added, zero-balance accounts have come down to about 35 per cent.