Lok Sabha Question No. 227 (STARRED), answered on 2025-03-17
Subject: Loans Written off during Last Ten Years
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Shri Amra Ram

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE

## DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. †*227

ANSWERED ON MONDAY, 17 TH  MARCH, 2025 / PHALGUNA 26, 1946 (SAKA)

## LOANS WRITTEN OFF DURING LAST TEN YEARS

## †*227. SHRI AMRA RAM:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  the  loan  amount  of  large  corporate  houses  written  off  during  the  last  ten years along with company-wise details thereof;
- (b) the details of the overdue amount of loans disbursed up to Rs. five thousand crores to the industrial units, company-wise;
- (c) the efforts being made to recover the said outstanding amount;
- (d) the  number  of  firms  and  companies  in  the  country  in  respect  of  which  the  NPA  loan amount worth Rs. one thousand crore or more is payable along with the NPA amount-wise details thereof; and
- (e) the  number  of  companies  in  respect  of  which  the  amount  of  loan  has  been  written  off during the last ten years, company-wise and amount-wise?

## ANSWER

## FINANCE MINISTER (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

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

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Statement  referred  to  in  reply  to  parts  (a)  to  (e)  in  respect  of  Lok  Sabha  Starred Question No. *227 for reply on 17.03.2025 regarding Loans Written off during Last Ten Years asked by Shri Amra Ram.

(a) to (e): Banks write-off non-performing assets (NPAs), including, inter-alia , those in respect of which full provisioning has been made on completion of four years, as per the Reserve Bank of India (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.  Banks continue pursuing their recovery actions initiated against borrowers under the various recovery mechanism  available  to  them,  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, filing of cases in the National Company Law Tribunal under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, etc.

RBI has apprised that information regarding loan written-off in respect of corporate houses is not  maintained  by  it.  However,  year-wise  details  of  writeoff  of  NPAs  pertaining  to  'Large industries  and  Services'  and  total  NPAs  written -off  by  scheduled  commercial  banks  (SCBs) during  the  last  ten  financial  years  are  at Annex .  RBI  has  also  informed  that  the  number  of companies in respect of which the amount of loan has been written off during a financial year is  not  maintained  by  it.    Further,  with  regard  to  the  name  of  companies,  the  disclosure  of borrower-wise credit information is prohibited under Section 45E of the RBI Act, 1934.

As  per  RBI  data,  as  on  31.12.2024,  scheduled  commercial  banks  have  29  unique  borrower companies, which have been classified as NPAs and each of them having outstanding of Rs. 1,000 crore and above. Aggregate outstanding in these accounts were Rs. 61,027 crore.

With  regard  to  recovery  of  overdue  amount  from  borrowers,  banks  make  calls  and  issue emails/letters to borrowers regarding payment of the overdue amounts, and depending on the default amount, banks may also approach the National Company Law Tribunal for initiation of corporate  insolvency  resolution  process  in  case  of  corporate  borrowers.  Further,  if  a  loan account  is  classified  as  NPA,  banks  initiate  recovery  actions,  as  per  their  Board-approved policies, which include, inter  alia, filing  of  a  suit  in  civil  courts  or  in  debts  recovery  tribunals, and, action under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act.

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Annex Lok Sabha Starred question no. *227, regarding Loans Written off During Last Ten Years

## Non-performing Assets (NPAs) Written-off by Scheduled Commercial Banks

(Amounts in crore Rs.)

| Financial Year   | Total NPAs written-off   | NPAs written-off pertaining to 'Large industries and Services'   |
|------------------|--------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2014-15          | 58,786                   | 31,723                                                           |
| 2015-16          | 70,413                   | 40,416                                                           |
| 2016-17          | 1,08,373                 | 68,308                                                           |
| 2017-18          | 1,61,328                 | 99,132                                                           |
| 2018-19          | 2,36,265                 | 1,48,753                                                         |
| 2019-20          | 2,34,170                 | 1,59,139                                                         |
| 2020-21          | 2,04,272                 | 1,27,050                                                         |
| 2021-22          | 1,75,178                 | 69,532                                                           |
| 2022-23          | 2,16,324                 | 1,14,528                                                         |
| 2023-24          | 1,70,270                 | 68,366                                                           |

Source: RBI

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