Property worth Rs 2.3 lakh crore seized to recover NPAs

New Delhi: Borrowers who are laid back after taking loans from the banks should now be on alert as the lenders have fastened the process of confiscating property in the case of NPAs. The agencies have seized property of over Rs 2.3 lakh crore from the NPA accounts in the last three financial years. "The accounts have been taken over or confiscated through Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, 2002, Debts Recovery Tribunals (DRTs), and National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)," said Anurag Singh Thakur, MoS, Ministry of Finance in a reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

The PSU banks have also recovered Rs 3.35 lakh crore over the last four-and-a-half financial years, including a record recovery of Rs 1.27 lakh crore during the financial year 2018-19, said the minister.

The banks — especially the PSU banks in India have been struggling with the burden of NPAs, touching as high as Rs 10 lakh crore. This has also reduced the banks' capacity to lend and make profits. On top of it, the compensation to these losses is also done by the banks in the form of provisioning, which marks an additional dent to the banks' operating profits. Recovery of these bad loans is likely to leave more cash with banks, boosting their businesses.