Banks may be reeling under the impact of non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans, but restructured corporate debt has been declining steadily over the years, according to the Centre.
Presenting data on the subject in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, finance minister Arun Jaitley said that restructed bank loans for the financial year 2016-17 stood at Rs 2,04,884 crore, down from Rs 3,70,279 crore in 2014-15 and Rs 2,99,111 crore in 2015-16, according to a PTI report.
Any restructuring is to be carried out in accordance with detailed guidelines issued by RBI on restructuring like Joint Lenders' Forum (JLF), Strategic Debt Restructuring (SDR) and Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A)," the minister said while responding to a question that sought the terms on which the loans were restructured and the names of the borrowers.
It may be recalled that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had identified 12 top defaulters who owed almost 25 percent of the total gross NPAs of banks. Most of the borrowers were in the steel sector.
The central bank also said that the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) would expedite the cases on priority if the lenders were to refer them, prompting banks to initiate insolvency proceedings.
Bhushan Steel, ABG Shipyard, Alok Industries, Electrosteel Steels, Jyoti Structures, Bhushan Power, Jaypee Infratech, Era Infra Engg, Monnet Ispat, Lanco Infratech Limited, Essar Steel and Amtek Auto are the 12 defaulters, according to media reports.
Citing a banker, Moneycontrol put the estimates as Essar Steel (Rs 37,284 crore), Bhushan Power (Rs 37,248 crore), Amtek Auto (Rs 14,074 crore), Monnet Ispat (Rs 12,115 crore), Bhushan Steel (Rs 44,478 crore) and Alok Industries (Rs 22,075 crore).
