1,463 bad loan accounts owe PSU banks ~1 bn

As many as 1,463 entities account for bad loans of ~1 billion or more in 21 public sector banks (PSBs), finance ministry data showed.

In State Bank of India (SBI) alone, 265 accounts had bad loans of more than ~1 billion each, totalling ~775. 38 billion, at the end of the September quarter.

Among the nationalised banks, Punjab National Bank topped the chart with 143 non-performing asset (NPA) accounts carrying over ~1 billion each. They collectively owed the Delhi-headquartered bank ~459.73 billion.

PNB was followed by Canara Bank with maximum number of accounts with NPAs of more than ~1 billion. Among smaller PSU lenders, Union Bank had 79 such accounts, Oriental Bank 68 and UCO Bank 62, the finance ministry data revealed.

Gross non-performing assets of state-owned banks stood at ~7.34 trillion by the end of second quarter this fiscal. The RBI has issued directions to certain banks for referring 12 accounts, with fund and non-fund based outstanding amount greater than ~50 billion and with 60 per cent or more classified as nonperforming as of March 31, 2016, to initiate insolvency process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

Rising NPAs have curtailed the lending capacity of state-owned banks as they have make extra provisions for bad loans. In order to strengthen them, the government has come out with a ~2.12 trillion recapitalisation plan and has already taken nod of Parliament to pump in ~800 billion through recapitalisation bonds in the current fiscal ending March, 2018.