The gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) have fallen by nearly Rs 98,000 crore to Rs 9.38 lakh crore by June end this year, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur informed the Lok Sabha on Monday. Gross NPAs of SCBs, which stood at Rs 10,36,187 crore on March 31, 2018, declined by Rs 97, 996 crore to Rs 9,38,191 crore as on June 30, 2019, Thakur said in a written reply during Question Hour in Lok Sabha.

The minister was responding to Congress MP Deepak Baij's query on the details of the amount of NPAs of various banks written off in the country during the last five years and its impact on the economy. The Congress MP from Bastar Lok Sabha constituency also asked for details of loans taken by the farmers and traders in the NPA.

The gross NPAs stood at Rs 3,23,464 crore as on March 31, 2015 and increased to over Rs 10.36 lakh crore figure by the end of 2017-18 fiscal on March 31, Thakur added.

Aggregate gross advances of the SCBs in their global operations increased from Rs 25,03,431 crore as on March 31, 2008, to Rs 68,75,748 crore as on March 31, 2014, he further said.

The aforementioned data from the Reserve Bank of India attributed the increase in stressed assets to "aggressive lending practices, wilful default / loan frauds /corruption in some cases, and economic slowdown."

"As per RBI guidelines and policy approved by bank Boards, non-performing loans, including,inter-alia, those in respect of which full provisioning has been made on completion of four years, are removed from the balance-sheet of the bank concerned by way of write-off. Banks evaluate/consider the impact of write-offs as part of their regular exercise to clean up their balance-sheet, avail of tax benefit and optimise capital, in accordance with RBI guidelines and policy approved by their Boards," the minister said in his reply.

As per the list provided in Lok Sabha unstarred question no 1285, regarding writing off bank NPAs, the State Bank of India wrote off Rs 56,481 crore in FY2018-19.

Other major banks which wrote off large amounts in FY2018-19 include IDBI Bank Ltd (Rs 14,166 crore), Canara Bank (Rs 13,849 crore), Bank of Baroda (Rs 11,725 crore), Central Bank of India (Rs 10,375 crore) and Punjab National Bank (Rs 11,238 crore).

The NPA write-offs of banks such as Axis Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Corporation Bank, Dena Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Syndicate Bank, Union Bank of India and United Bank of India ranged between Rs 4,000 crore and Rs 10,000 crore in FY2018-19.

The SCBs wrote off Rs 13,744 crore in FY2018-19 under 'Agriculture and Allied Activities', while Rs 40,175 crore came under 'Services-Trade' head.

Banks claim that the recovery measures continue even after write-offs.

First Published:Nov 25, 2019 2:57 PM IST