Lok Sabha Question No. 2486 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-15
Subject: Waiver of Loans by Banks
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Shri Adhikari Deepak Dev

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 2486

ANSWERED ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2025/ AGRAHAYANA 24, 1947 (SAKA)

## Waiver of Loans by Banks

## 2486. SHRI ADHIKARI DEEPAK DEV:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:-

(a)  the  quantum  of  loans  written  off  by  both  public  and  private  sector  banks  between 2014 to 2020;

- (b)  the  quantum  of  non-performing  assets  accrued  by  both  public  and  private  sector banks in the said time period; and

(c) the initiatives taken by the Government to reduce bad debt accrued in both public and private banks?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE

## (SHRI PANKAJ CHAUDHARY)

(a):  As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, during the period from financial year (FY)2013-14*  till  FY2019-20,  Public  Sector  Banks  (PSBs)  and  Private  Sector  Banks (PVBs) wrote-off an aggregate Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) of amount Rs. 7,10,002 crore  and  Rs.  1,78,622  crore,  respectively.  (*RBI  data  for  FY2013-14  is  for  domestic operations, while for other FYs the data is for global operations.)

Banks write-off NPAs, including, inter-alia , those in respect of which full provisioning has been made on completion of four years, as per RBI guidelines and policy  approved by banks'  Boards.  Such  write -off  does  not  result  in  waiver  of  liabilities  of  borrowers  and therefore,  it  does  not  benefit  the  borrower.  The  borrowers  continue  to  be  liable  for repayment  and  banks  continue  to  pursue  recovery  actions  initiated  in  these  accounts. Further, recovery in written-off loans is an ongoing process and banks continue pursuing their recovery actions initiated against borrowers under the various recovery mechanism available to them.

(b): Year-wise details of new accretion to NPAs in PSBs and PVBs during the aforesaid period are as under:

(Amount in crore Rs.)

| FY      | PSBs                        | PVBs                        |
|---------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
| 2013-14 | Data not available with RBI | Data not available with RBI |
| 2014-15 | 1,70,955                    | 26,099                      |
| 2015-16 | 3,98,822                    | 47,116                      |
| 2016-17 | 3,38,710                    | 79,560                      |
| 2017-18 | 4,32,630                    | 1,02,846                    |
| 2018-19 | 2,07,687                    | 88,027                      |
| 2019-20 | 2,10,960                    | 1,25,518                    |

Source: RBI, global operations from FY 2014-15 onwards

(c):  Comprehensive measures have been taken by the Government and RBI to recover, reduce and prevent NPAs. These measures include, inter alia , the following:

- (i) Under the  PSB  Reforms  Agenda,  comprehensive  and  automated  Early  Warning Systems (EWS) were instituted in PSBs, with approximately 80 EWS triggers and use of third-party data for time-bound remedial actions in the borrowing accounts to proactively detect stress and in turn reducing slippage into NPAs.
- (ii) Moving  from  the 'Debtor  in  Possession' to  a 'Credito r  in  Control' regime change  in  credit  culture  has  been  effected,  with  the  Insolvency  and  Bankruptcy Code,  2016  (IBC)  fundamentally  changing  the  creditor-borrower  relationship. Behavioral impact of IBC may be observed from the fact that as of March 2025, more than 30,000 applications having underlying default of Rs. 13.78 lakh crore have been settled at pre-admission stage itself. In addition, to address the delays in completion of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Processes (CIRPs) various amendments have been proposed in IBC that are under legislative approval.
- (iii) The  Securitisation  and  Reconstruction  of  Financial  Assets  and  Enforcement  of Security Interest Act, 2002 (SARFAESI)  and  the Recovery of Debt and Bankruptcy Act have been amended to make it more effective. Key amendments in SARFAESI, inter alia, Empowered RBI to audit and inspect Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) and to impose penalties for non -compliance; mandated  registration of all security interests with the Central Registry of Securitisation  Asset  Reconstruction  and  Security  Interest  of  India  (CERSAI); created  additional  DRTs  to  speed  up  case  disposal; enabled  non-institutional investors to invest in Security Receipts.
- (iv) Pecuniary jurisdiction of DRTs was increased from Rs. 10 lakhs to Rs. 20 lakhs to enable the DRTs to focus on high value cases resulting in higher recovery for the banks and financial institutions.
- (v) PSBs have  set-up  specialized  stressed  assets  management  verticals  and  branches for effective monitoring and focused follow-up of NPA accounts, which facilitates quicker and improved resolution/ recoveries. Deployment of Business correspondents  and  adoption  of  Feet-on-street  model  have  also  boosted  the recovery trajectory of NPAs in banks.
- (vi) Prudential  Framework  for  resolution  of  stressed  assets  was  issued  by  RBI  on 7.6.2019 to provide a framework for early recognition, reporting and time bound resolution of stressed assets, with a build-in incentive to lenders for early adoption of a resolution plan.

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