The entities willing to buy NPAs from originating banks are called asset reconstruction companies (ARCs). Last year, the State Bank of India (SBI) sold its bad loans of over Rs 30,000 crore for just Rs 8,000 crore, giving a discount of over 70 per cent. With the loans very difficult to recover, private ARCs are reluctant to offer better deals. However, another issue involved with the deal was that the private ARC didn't pay the SBI fully in cash or cash equivalent, but in security receipts (SRs). With the recovery of the bad loans still a far cry, it's not certain if the ARC will be able to honour the SRs and if the SBI will get the money.