Lok Sabha Question No. 2219 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-02
Subject: Oil Shipments Seized by Enforcement Agencies
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Asaduddin Owaisi

## Part (a)-

No, Sir. No oil shipments of SEEPCO Nigeria has been seized by Indian Enforcement Agencies since January, 2018 till date.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2219

TO BE ANSWERED ON MONDAY, August 02, 2021/11 Sravana, 1943 (Saka)

' Oil Shipments Seized by Enforcement Agencies '

## 2219. SHRI ASADUDDIN OWAISI :

## Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of oil shipments from Sandesaras Nigerian business, SEEPCO Nigeria or re-sold via  Glencore,  UK Seized by Indian Enforcement Agencies since January, 2018 till date along with their value, year-wise;
- (b) the efforts made by Indian Banks, BSE, NSE and SEBI in Sterling Biotech limited matter to ensure safeguard investors interest and PSBs NPA recovery and Sandesara Group fraud matter on oil receivable from SEEPCO Nigeria along with their value;
- (c)  the  steps  taken  by  RBI  and  the  Department  of Financial Services to closely monitor PSBs NPA recovery and protect Tax payers money and funds infusion by banks;

and

- (d) the further steps taken or being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR FINANCE (SHRI PANKAJ CHAUDHARY)

## Part (b)-

The efforts made by Indian Banks, SEBI in Sterling Biotech Limited matter to safeguard investors interests and NPA recovery, are as below:

SEBI has initiated the following action:

- 11B order dated June 22, 2021 has been passed inter-alia restraining Mr. Nitin Sandesara  and Mr. Chetan Sandesara -

- i. from accessing the securities market for a period of 5 years.
- ii. from holding any position of Director or key management personnel in any listed company or any intermediary registered with SEBI.
- iii. from associating themselves with any listed public company or a public company which intends to raise money from the public or any intermediary registered with SEBI.

-  Prosecution  has  also  been  initiated  against  Mr.  Chetan  Sandesara  for  noncompliance  of summons issued to him.

Adjudication proceedings have been initiated inter-alia against Mr. Nitin Sandesara and Mr. Chetan Sandesara in the said matter vide Show Cause Notice dated June 29, 2018.

-  Banks  have  taken  the  following  actions  against  Sterling  Biotech  Limited  to  recover  their outstanding:
- i     Recovery suits were filed in the Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) against the borrower and its guarantors.
- ii    Corporate  insolvency  resolution  process  under  the  Insolvency  and  Bankruptcy  Code, 2016 (IBC) was initiated in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
- iii  Borrowers,  guarantors  and  promoter  directors  in  the  accounts  of  Sterling  Biotech Limited and its group companies were declared as wilful defaulters.

As on date, lenders have recovered an amount Rs. 383 crore in the account of Sterling Biotech Limited.

## Part (c) and Part (d)-

The important measures/ steps taken by the RBI and Government to deal with NPAs are detailed below:

Comprehensive steps have been taken to monitor and recover non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks,  including  Public  Sector  Banks  (PSBs).  Various  steps  taken  in  this  regard  include  the following:

- (1) Central  Repository  of  Information  on  Large  Credits  (CRILC)  to  collect,  store  and disseminate credit data to lenders has been set up by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and banks are required to submit report on weekly basis to CRILC in case of any default by borrowing entities with exposure of Rs. 5 crore and above.
- (2)         Banks have been advised by RBI to-
3. i    review  at  Board  level,  slippages  in  asset  classification  of  loan  accounts  with outstanding of Rs. 5 crore and above, and NPA accounts registering recoveries of Rs. 1 crore and above;
4. ii establish recovery  cells at  their  head  office  for  close  monitoring  of  recovery performance; and
5. iii  make their information technology and management information system robust so as to generate reliable and quality information regarding asset quality for effective decisionmaking.
- (3)         Key reforms have been instituted in PSBs as part of the Public Sector Banks Reforms Agenda, including, inter alia, the following:

i        Stressed  Asset  Management  Verticals  were  set  up  in  banks  for  focussed  slippage prevention, and time-bound recovery action in respect of large-value stressed assets.

ii Board-approved loan policies of PSBs now mandate tying up necessary clearances/approvals and linkages before disbursement, scrutiny of group balance-sheet and ring-fencing of cash flows, non-fund and tail risk appraisal in project financing.

iii    Use of third-party data sources for comprehensive due diligence across data sources has been instituted, thus mitigating risk on account of misrepresentation and fraud.

iv   Monitoring has been strictly segregated from sanctioning roles in high-value loans, and specialised monitoring agencies combining financial and domain knowledge have been deployed for effective monitoring of loans above Rs. 250 crore.

v   To ensure timely and better realisation in one-time settlements (OTSs), end-to-end OTS platforms have been set up in PSBs.

- (4)     Change in credit culture has been effected, with IBC fundamentally changing the creditorborrower relationship, taking away control of the defaulting company from promoters/owners, and debarring wilful defaulters from the resolution process. To make the process more stringent, personal guarantor to corporate debtor has also been brought under the ambit of IBC. Under IBC, resolution plans have been approved in 394 cases up to June 2021, with Rs. 2.45 lakh crore amount realisable by financial creditors.
- (5) The  Securitisation  and  Reconstruction  of  Financial  Assets  and  Enforcement  of  Security Interest  Act,  2002  has  been  amended  to  make  it  more  effective,  with  provision  for  three months'  imprisonment  in  case  the  borrower  does  not  provide  asset  details,  and  for  the lender to get possession of mortgaged property within 30 days.
- (6) Jurisdiction of Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRTs) was increased from Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh to enable the DRTs to focus on high value cases resulting in higher recovery for the banks  and  financial  institutions.  Six  new  DRTs  have  also  been  established  to  expedite recovery.
- (7) With  Government  infusion  supplementing  the  raising  of  capital  by  PSBs  from  market, PSBs  have  achieved  a  high  provisioning  coverage  ratio  of  83.7%  as  on  31.3.2021, equipping  them  to  take  decision  on  resolution  of  NPAs  without  being  constrained  on account of such decision impacting their profitability.