Lok Sabha Question No. 164 (STARRED), answered on 2022-12-19
Subject: Write Off of Bank Loans
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Deepak Baij, Mala Roy

## *164. Shri Deepak Baij:

## Shrimati Mala Roy:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether various banks have written off loans of more than Rupees ten lakh crores during the last five years;
- (b) if so, the details thereof, year and bank-wise;
- (c) the details of ten biggest beneficiaries of above write off, bank-wise;
- (d) whether various Public Sector Banks have recovered only 13 per cent of the above written off loans; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and the reasons for such poor recovery, bank-wise?

## ANSWER

## FINANCE MINISTER (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

- (a) to (e): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

*****

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *164

## ANSWERED ON 19.12.2022

## Write Off of Bank Loans

Statement referred to in reply to parts (a) to (e) in respect of Lok Sabha Starred Question  No.  *164  for  reply  on  19.12.2022  regarding  Write  Off  of  Bank  Loans asked by Shri Deepak Baij and Shrimati Mala Roy.

(a) to (e): As per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines and policy approved by banks' Boards, non-performing assets (NPAs), including, inter-alia , those in respect of which full provisioning has been made on completion of four years, are removed from the balancesheet 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  per  inputs  received  from  RBI,  scheduled  commercial  banks  (SCBs) wrote-off an amount of Rs. 10,09,511 crore during the last five financial years. Bank-wise details of NPAs written off by SCBs during 2017 to 2022 are at Annex-1 .

The 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.  Banks continue  to  pursue  recovery  actions  initiated  in  written-off  accounts  through  various recovery  mechanisms  available,  such  as  filing  of  a  suit  in  civil  courts  or  in  Debts Recovery  Tribunals,  action  under  the  Securitisation  and  Reconstruction  of  Financial Assets  and  Enforcement  of  Security  Interest  Act,  2002,  filing  of  cases  in  the  National Company  Law  Tribunal  under  the  Insolvency  and  Bankruptcy  Code,  2016,  through negotiated settlement/compromise, and through sale of NPAs. Therefore, write-off does not benefit the borrowers.

Recovery in NPA accounts including written-off loans, is an on-going process. As per RBI data, public sector banks have recovered an aggregate amount of Rs. 4,80,111 crore, including  recovery  of  Rs.  1,03,045  crore  from  written-off  loans  during  the  last  five financial years.

*****

## Lok Sabha Starred question no. *164, regarding Write Off of Bank Loans Amounts written off by Scheduled Commercial Banks

| Bank                                            | FY 2017-18   | FY 2018-19   | FY 2019-20   | FY 2020-21              | FY 2021-22       |
|-------------------------------------------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|-------------------------|------------------|
| AB Bank Limited                                 | 0            | 9            | 0            | 0                       | 0                |
| Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC                  | 0            | 22           | 64           | 0                       | --               |
| American Express Banking Corporation            | 101          | 166          | 180          | 127                     | 215              |
| AU Small Finance Bank Limited                   | 10           | 20           | 47           | 115                     | 188              |
| Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited | 0            | 0            | 75           | 0                       | 0                |
| Axis Bank Limited                               | 11,274       | 8,278        | 9,019        | 12,018                  | 9,126            |
| Bandhan Bank Limited                            | 51           | 277          | 655          | 2,038                   | 3,247            |
| Bank of America, National Association           | 11           |              |              |                         |                  |
| Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait B.S.C.               | 58           | 0            | 5            | 61                      | 9                |
| Bank of Baroda (BoB)                            | 4,948        | 13,102       | 15,912       | 14,782                  | 17,967           |
| Dena Bank                                       | 661          | 4,672        |              |                         | Merged           |
| Vijaya Bank                                     | 1,539        | 1,518        |              |                         | with BoB         |
| Bank of Ceylon                                  | 0            | 0            | 0            | 1                       | 0                |
| Bank of India                                   | 8,976        | 7,405        | 7,618        | 8,815                   | 10,443           |
| Bank of Maharashtra                             | 2,460        | 5,127        | 5,698        | 4,931                   | 3,118            |
| Bank of Nova Scotia                             | 160          | 26           | 0            | 0                       | 0                |
| Barclays Bank PLC                               | 4            | 0            | 52           | 73                      | 163              |
| BNP Paribas                                     | 0            | 0            | 0            | 0                       | 1                |
| Canara Bank                                     | 8,310        | 14,267       | 7,498        | 7,642                   | 8,210            |
| Syndicate Bank                                  | 2,400        | 6,775        | 4,934        | Merged with Canara Bank |                  |
| Central Bank of India                           | 2,924        | 10,375       | 4,169        | 5,992                   | 1,236            |
| Citibank N.A.                                   | 460          | 505          | 559          | 370                     | 576              |
| City Union Bank Limited                         | 195          | 264          | 374          | 412                     | 629              |
| Cooperatieve Rabobank U.A.                      | 206          | 80           | 123          | 0                       | 175              |
| Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank   | 72           | 251          | 0            | 0                       | 0                |
| Credit Suisse AG                                | 0            | 0            | 260          | 0                       | 0                |
| CSB Bank Limited                                | 9            | 301          | 215          | 138                     | 110              |
| CTBC Bank Company Limited                       | 60           |              |              |                         |                  |
| DBS Bank India Limited (DBIL)                   | 144          | 17           | 184          | 139                     | 438              |
| Lakshmi Vilas Bank Limited                      | 272          | 261          | 19           | 108                     | Merged with DBIL |
| DCB Bank Limited                                | 32           | 67           | 120          | 126                     | 88               |
| Deutsche Bank AG                                | 30           | 169          | 105          | 485                     | 213              |
| Equitas Small Finance Bank Limited              | 179          | 61           | 72           | 245                     | 360              |
| ESAF Small Finance Bank Limited                 | 0            | 89           | 29           | 0                       | 74               |
| Federal Bank Limited                            | 212          | 186          | 734          | 398                     | 929              |
| Fincare Small Finance Bank Limited              | 0            | 10           | 45           | 28                      | 370              |
| First Rand Bank Limited                         | 14           |              |              |                         |                  |
| HDFC Bank Limited                               | 3,266        | 4,568        | 8,254        | 9,289                   | 9,405            |

## Annex-1

Amounts in crore Rs.

| Bank                                              | FY 2017-18   | FY 2018-19   | FY 2019-20   | FY 2020-21              | FY 2021-22              |
|---------------------------------------------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|
| Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited | 66           | 359          | 119          | 185                     | 234                     |
| ICICI Bank Limited                                | 8,350        | 11,557       | 10,952       | 9,507                   | 10,148                  |
| IDBI Bank Limited                                 | 12,515       | 15,918       | 5,936        | 8,392                   | 2,889                   |
| IDFC First Bank Limited                           | 998          | 1,272        | 1,510        | 1,433                   | 4,202                   |
| Indian Bank                                       | 1,606        | 2,872        | 3,032        | 8,371                   | 8,347                   |
| Allahabad Bank                                    | 3,635        | 4,219        | 9,120        | Merged with Indian Bank | Merged with Indian Bank |
| Indian Overseas Bank                              | 6,908        | 7,794        | 16,405       | 4,618                   | 3,769                   |
| IndusInd Bank Limited                             | 783          | 1,923        | 2,539        | 4,055                   | 4,385                   |
| Industrial and Commercial Bank of China           | 0            | 0            | 43           | 35                      | 0                       |
| Jammu and Kashmir Bank Limited                    | 1,564        | 923          | 65           | 1,185                   | 758                     |
| Jana Small Finance Bank Limited                   | 0            | --           | 300          | 233                     | 585                     |
| Karnataka Bank Limited                            | 712          | 808          | 904          | 1,060                   | 585                     |
| Karur Vysya Bank Limited                          | 362          | 447          | 961          | 619                     | 879                     |
| KEB Hana Bank                                     | 0            | 0            | 0            | 12                      | 0                       |
| Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited                       | 407          | 220          | 936          | 628                     | 1,230                   |
| Nainital Bank Limited                             | 13           | 1            | 0            | 1                       | 119                     |
| Natwest Markets PLC                               | 0            | 115          | 0            | 0                       | 0                       |
| North East Small Finance Bank Limited             | 0            | --           | 8            | 0                       | 81                      |
| PT Bank Maybank Indonesia TBK                     | 0            | 0            | 0            | 0                       | 18                      |
| Punjab and Sind Bank                              | 460          | 1,635        | 1,781        | 71                      | 1,134                   |
| Punjab National Bank (PNB)                        | 7,407        | 12,253       | 13,365       | 15,877                  | 18,312                  |
| Oriental Bank of Commerce                         | 6,357        | 6,457        | 3,351        |                         | Merged with PNB         |
| United Bank of India                              | 1,867        | 5,365        | 1,728        |                         |                         |
| RBL Bank Limited                                  | 159          | 320          | 1,253        | 1,675                   | 2,294                   |
| Sberbank                                          | 0            | 0            | 0            | 0                       | 50                      |
| SBM Bank (India) Limited                          | 57           | 0            | 45           | 12                      | 19                      |
| South Indian Bank Limited                         | 629          | 287          | 874          | 1,135                   | 700                     |
| Standard Chartered Bank                           | 604          | 2,309        | 3,111        | 1,697                   | 1,325                   |
| State Bank of India                               | 39,151       | 58,905       | 52,362       | 34,402                  | 19,666                  |
| Suryoday Small Finance Bank Limited               | 43           | 34           | 48           | 97                      | 231                     |
| Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Limited                  | 594          | 264          | 366          | 393                     | 321                     |
| The Dhanalakshmi Bank Limited                     | 2            | 3            | 103          | 14                      | 83                      |
| The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC                    | 49           |              |              |                         |                         |
| UCO Bank                                          | 2,735        | 4,420        | 12,479       | 9,410                   | 3,851                   |
| Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Limited                | 176          | 178          | 64           | 74                      | 789                     |
| Union Bank of India (UBI)                         | 3,477        | 7,771        | 8,417        | 16,983                  | 19,484                  |
| Andhra Bank                                       | 1,666        | 2,280        | 4,195        |                         |                         |
| Corporation Bank                                  | 8,228        | 5,989        | 3,814        |                         | Merged with UBI         |
| United Overseas Bank Limited                      | 0            | 0            | 55           | 0                       | 0                       |
| Utkarsh Small Finance Bank Limited                | 0            | 30           | 56           | 35                      | 219                     |
| Woori Bank                                        | 0            | 0            | 13           | 0                       | 0                       |
| Yes Bank Limited                                  | 709          | 469          | 6,842        | 12,240                  | 971                     |

Source: RBI, Global Operations

*****