PSBs put up Rs 8,500 crore bad loans on block

New Delhi: State-run banks are selling non-performing assets (NPAs) worth Rs 8,500 crore this month to asset reconstruction companies (ARCs), non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and foreign investors. State Bank of India alone has put up bad loans worth Rs 4,000 crore up for sale as the pressure mounts on banks to recover long-pending dues from defaulting companies.
Bank officials have confided to FC that SBI has put Rs 3,947 crore of NPAs on sale, the largest chunk of which, Rs 1,320 crore, is from Rohit Ferro Tech. Besides, Indian Steel Corporation owes SBI Rs 929 crore, Jai Balaji Industries Rs 859 crore, Mahalaxmi TMT Rs 409 crore and Impex Ferro Rs 201 crore. These accounts would be auctioned on a 100 per cent cash basis and e-bidding for the same would be done on September 26.
SBI has also put about another Rs 400 crore of NPAs under the e-auction route for recoveries, including that of Yogindra Worsted.
These are separate from the high-value cases taken up under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, where mostly consortium of banks are involved in recovering the dues.
SBI had sold NPAs of Bombay Rayon Fashions and Shivan Dhatu worth Rs 2,490 crore last month.
Three other public sector banks (PSBs), Punjab National Bank, Andhra Bank and United Bank of India have also put up for sale NPAs worth 3,500 crore. The scam-hit lender PNB has invited bids for an e-auction of 21 overdue accounts on September 20. These NPAs are spread across the bank’s zones in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Patna and Chandigarh.
The PNB’s list of defaulters includes Moser Baer Solar, with an outstanding of Rs 233.06 crore; followed by Divine Alloys & Power Co (Rs 200.87 crore), Divine Vidyut (Rs 132.66 crore), Chincholi Sugar & Bio Industries (Rs 114.42 crore), Arshiya Northern FTWZ (Rs 96.70 crore), Birla Surya (Rs 73.58 crore), Shri Saikrupa Sugar & Allied Industries (Rs 63.35 crore), Raja Forgings & Gears (Rs 59.73 crore), Templeton Foods (Rs 53.17 crore), Paritran Medical College & Hospital (Rs 51.14 crore), Rathi Ispat (Rs 45.48 crore), James Hotel (Rs 33.50 crore) and Jain Overseas (Rs 33.41 crore).
Andhra Bank has put up Rs 2,549-crore debt from 53 entities on the block while United Bank of India listed 30 accounts having Rs 572-crore debt.
IDBI Bank, which has the largest gross NPAs at Rs 56,500 crore, has also put some smaller loans under the sale route,
The government has been insisting on a focused recovery drive by the banks by setting up special teams to deal with the issue.
The government expects state-run banks to recover Rs 1.5 lakh core of bad debt during the current financial year, twice the amount that lenders had managed to get last fiscal.
State-run banks have made a total recovery of Rs 36,551 crore in the first quarter of 2018-19.