Banks wrote off Rs 10 lakh cr loans in five years: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 13

Banks have written off bad loans worth Rs 10,09,511 crore during the last five fiscals, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

The banks recovered an aggregate amount of Rs 6,59,596 crore, including the recovery of Rs 1,32,036 crore from the written-off loan accounts, during the said period, she said.

The maximum amount written off in a year from 2017-18 till 2021-22 was Rs 2.36 lakh crore in the pre-Covid 2018-19 fiscal, followed by Rs 2.34 lakh crore in 2019-20, Rs 2.02 lakh crore in 2020-21 and Rs 1.74 lakh crore in 2021-22.

In contrast, recoveries in cash were measly. The maximum amount recovered in a year was Rs 33,534 crore in 2021-22, followed by about Rs 30,000 crore each in 2019-20 and 2020-21. “As the borrowers of written-off loans continue to be liable for repayment and the process of recovery of dues continues. Write-off does not benefit the borrower,” said Sitharaman. As per inputs received from public sector banks, staff accountability in respect of NPAs had been fixed against 3,312 bank officials of AGM and above rank during the same period, and suitable punitive actions had been taken commensurate with their lapses.

Asked about the details of accounts in which loans worth Rs 10 crore and above were written off and the names of the top 25 defaulters, the RBI informed the Centre that under the provisions of Section 45E of the RBI Act, it was prohibited from disclosing borrower-wise credit information.

Sitharaman said NPAs were removed from banks’ balance sheets by way of write-off.

Officials taken to task, says FM

Accountability has been fixed against 3,312 bank officials of AGM and above rank and action taken over their lapses. — Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister

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