(a) the details of the written off loans by banks relating to industries/corporate houses and the reasons therefor during each of the last three years and current year, bank-wise and company-wise;
(b) the details of the corporate companies whose loans have been restructured including its terms and conditions during the said period, company-wise;
(c) whether the Government proposes to restructure farmers’ loans also; and
(d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(a) to (d): As per data of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), aggregate gross advances of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) in their global operations increased from Rs. 25,03,431 crore as on 31.3.2008 to Rs. 68,75,748 crore as on 31.3.2014. As per RBI inputs, the primary reasons for the spurt in stressed assets have been observed to be, inter-alia, aggressive lending practices, wilful default / loan frauds / corruption in some cases, and economic slowdown. Asset Quality Review (AQR) initiated in 2015 for clean and fully provisioned bank balance-sheets revealed high incidence of Non Performing Assets (NPAs). As a result of AQR and subsequent transparent recognition by banks, stressed accounts were reclassified as NPAs and expected losses on stressed loans, not provided for earlier under flexibility given to restructured loans, were provided for. Further, all such schemes for restructuring stressed loans were withdrawn. Primarily as a result of transparent recognition of stressed assets as NPAs, gross NPAs of SCBs, as per RBI data on global operations, rose from Rs. 3,23,464 crore as on 31.3.2015, to Rs. 10,36,187 crore as on 31.3.2018, and as a result of Government’s strategy of recognition, resolution, recapitalisation and reforms, have since declined by Rs. 1,01,267 crore to Rs. 9,34,920 crore as on 30.9.2019.
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. As borrowers of written-off loans continue to be liable for repayment and the process of recovery of dues from the borrower in written-off loan accounts continues, write-off does not benefit the borrower. Bank-wise details of NPAs written-off pertaining to industries by SCBs for the last three financial years and up to first half of current financial year are at Annex. With regard to company-wise details of written-off loans and restructured loans, RBI has apprised that under the provisions of section 45E of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, RBI is prohibited from disclosing credit information. Section 45E provides that credit information submitted by a bank shall be treated as confidential and not be published or otherwise disclosed.
With regard to restructuring of farmer’s loans, it is informed that vide Master Directions dated 17.10.2018, RBI has issued standing guidelines on relief measures to be provided by respective lending institutions in areas affected by natural calamities. These guidelines include, inter alia, restructuring/rescheduling of existing crop loans and term loans, extending fresh loans, relaxed security and margin norms, moratorium, etc. and the moment calamity is declared by the district authorities concerned, they are automatically set in motion without any intervention. The benchmark for initiating relief measures by banks is 33% crop loss. RBI has advised banks not to insist for additional collateral security for restructured loans.
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