‘NCLT route won’t help all NPA cases’

New Delhi, Oct. 13: State Bank of India’s managing director P.K. Gupta on Friday said banks should use the best available mechanism to recover bad loans and the NCLT route cannot be used effectively in all NPA cases.

Indicating that one size fits all approach may not work in all cases, he said that basically, the NCLT is one of the resolution mechanisms.

“A lot of resolution mechanisms already are there — the RBI scheme, an oversight committee,” Mr Gupta told reporters on the sidelines of a conference organised by the PFRDA here. “The banks have to use what is the best mechanism in each particular case. The NCLT cannot be the solution for all cases.”

The banks that find it tough to recover loans from borrowers can refer such cases to the NCLT as part of insolvency proceedings.

A number of banks, including SBI, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and IDBI Bank, have initiated proceedings against defaulters by moving the NCLT to recover their dues.

The banking sector is saddled with non-performing assets (NPAs) of over `8 lakh crore, of which `6 lakh crore is with public sector banks (PSBs).

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has identified 12 large NPA accounts constituting 25 per cent or about `2 lakh crore of the total pie.

Essar Steel, Bhushan Steel, Bhushan Steel and Power, Electrosteel Steel, Lanco Infratech, Alok Industries, Jyoti Structures and Jaypee Infratech are among the big names that are facing NCLT cases.

A lot of resolution mechanisms already are there — the RBI scheme, an oversight committee. The banks have to use what is the best mechanism in each particular case. The NCLT cannot be the solution for all cases

— P.K. GUPTA, MD, State Bank of India