'Plenty of blame to go around': Urjit Patel admits RBI failed on bad loans

Former RBI governor Urjit Patel says banks indulged in over-lending, while the government did not 'fully play' its role.

Banks, the government, and the Reserve Bank of India failed to contain bad loans, said former central bank governor Urjit Patel, recalling the time before 2014 when there was "plenty of blame to go around".

In his first comments after resigning as RBI governor on December 10 last year amid sharp differences with the government, Patel said banks indulged in over-lending, while the government did not "fully play" its role, and also conceded that the regulator should have acted earlier.

Speaking at an event in Stanford University on June 3, Patel listed out areas of concern for the country's banking