Public sector banks have recorded a substantial write-off of Rs 3.66 lakh crore in loans over the past three fiscal years, as per data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
During this same period, these banks managed to recover only Rs 1.9 lakh crore, according to information obtained by Moneycontrol.com through a Right to Information (RTI) request.
Providing details in the Lok Sabha, the Ministry of Finance disclosed on Monday that scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) wrote off nearly Rs 10.6 lakh crore in the last five years. Interestingly, nearly half of these written-off loans were extended to large industries and the services sector.
Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance, Bhagwat Karad, stated, "A total of Rs 2.09 lakh crore worth of loans were written off by banks in 2020-23, out of which 52.3 percent was linked to large industries and services."
Despite directives from the RBI to expedite the recovery of bad loans, public sector banks have been sluggish in this regard.
In the fiscal year 2022-23, the State Bank of India (SBI), the nation's largest bank, wrote off loans amounting to Rs 24,061 crore, while its recoveries were a mere Rs 13,024 crore. Similarly, Bank of Baroda wrote off Rs 17,998 crore, with recoveries totaling only Rs 6,294 crore, according to the RTI data.
An exception to this trend is Canara Bank, which recorded a total loan recovery of Rs 11,919 crore, surpassing the Rs 4,472 crore worth of loans written off in 2022-23.
(With Agency Inputs)
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