State-run banks' bad loans over Rs 6 lakh cr as on end-September

It signifies an increase of Rs 79,977 crore in NPAs in 2nd quarter over the first one, says Santosh Kumar Gangwar Minister of State for Finance

Gross non-performing assets (NPAs), or bad loans, of public sector banks (PSBs) as on end-September rose to Rs 6,30,323 crore, as against Rs 5,50,346 crore at the end of the first quarter on June 30, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

This signifies an increase of Rs 79,977 crore in NPAs in the second quarter over the first one, Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

"The government has taken sector-specific measures (infrastructure, power, road textiles, steel etc.) where incidence of NPA is high," he said, listing passing of legislations like the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), amendment of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act (SARFAESI) and the Recovery of Debt due to Banks and Financial Institutions (RDDBFI) Act aimed at improving resolution or recovery of bank loans.

"Six new Debt Recovery Tribunals have been established for improving recovery," he said.

Moreover, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced a number of relevant tools such as Corporate Debt Restructuring, the formation of the Joint Lenders Forum, the Strategic Debt Restructuring scheme and Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets, he added.

In a separate reply, Gangwar said that out of Rs 2.80 lakh crore loans to the iron and steel sector at end-June, Rs 1.24 lakh crore has gone bad, which works out to 44.54%.

Gross NPAs of the PSBs have surged from 5.43% of the total advances (Rs 2.67 lakh crore) in 2014-15, to 9.32% (Rs 4.76 lakh crore) in 2015-16.