RTI revealed the information on loans of various banks. According to the disclosed data, the State bank of India (SBI) has written off loans worth INR 76,600 crores of 220 defaulters. These debtors owed SBI more than INR 100 crore each. The information was obtained after the Supreme Court’s order to RBI under the RTI Act.
Bank Wise Breakup
RBI listed 980 debtors whose loans of more than INR 100 crore were written off. Out of this, 220 debtors belonged to SBI.
Punjab National Bank waived off loans of 94 borrowers with an average amount of INR 287 crore per account.
Private Banks also participated in the writing of their bad debts. IDBI topping the list with 71 borrowers accounting for more than 100 crores each. IDBI wrote off INR 26,219 crores of bad debts. Canara Bank declared 63 accounts holding more than INR 100 crore each as bad debts. Bank of Baroda had 46 such accounts and ICICI had 37 such accounts. Besides, Central Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank revealed 4 debtors owing more than INR 500 crore each, whose debts are to be written off.
SBI topped the list among public sector banks and IDBI marked its position amongst private banks.
Making up for losses
SBI recently cut interest rates on savings accounts with a balance of up to one lakh from 3.5% to 3.25%. It also cut interest rates on fixed deposits with a maturity period between one to two years.
The country’s economy is at its lowest ebb in terms of employment, consumer demand and stagnant rural economy. Despite reforms, FDI did not increase. Further, such a large amount of bad debts have added to the loss.