Banks write off loans worth Rs 10 lakh crore in last 5 years

New Delhi: Banks have written off loans worth about Rs 10 lakh crore in the last five financial years, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

During 2021-22, the write-off amount came down to Rs 1,57,096 crore compared to Rs 2,02,781 crore in the previous year, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat K Karad said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

In 2019-20, the write-off was worth Rs 2,34,170 crore, down from Rs 2,36,265 crore, the highest in five years recorded in 2018-19.

During 2017-18, the write-off by banks stood at Rs 1,61,328 crore, he said.

In all, he said, bank loans to the tune of Rs 9,91,640 crore have been written off in the last five years--2017-18 to 2021-22.

He also said that "scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) and all Indian financial institutions report certain credit information of all borrowers having aggregate credit exposure of Rs 5 crore and above to RBI under its Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC) database." As per RBI, the CRILC data in respect of wilful defaulters is maintained from 2018-19 onwards, he said, adding total number of wilful defaulters in the last four years stood at 10,306.

The highest number of 2,840 wilful defaulters reported during 2020-21 was followed by 2,700 the next year.

The number of wilful defaulters stood at 2,207 at the end of March 2019 that rose to 2,469 in 2019-20.

Sharing details of top 25 wilful defaulters at the end of March 2022, Karad said, Gitanjali Gems Ltd tops the list followed by Era Infra Engineering, Concast Steel and Power, REI Agro Ltd and ABG Shipyard Ltd.

Absconding diamantaire Mehul Choksi's company Gitanjali Gems owes banks a whopping Rs 7,110 crore while Era Infra Engineering owes Rs 5,879 crore and Concast Steel and Power Ltd Rs 4,107 crore.

Besides, REI Agro Ltd and ABG Shipyard have defrauded banks of Rs 3,984 crore and Rs 3,708 crore, respectively.

Other wilful defaulters like Frost International Ltd owes Rs 3,108 crore, Winsome Diamonds and Jewellery Rs 2,671 crore, Rotomac Global Private Limited Rs 2,481 crore, Coastal Projects Ltd Rs 2,311 crore and Kudos Chemie Rs 2,082 crore.