New Delhi: Public sector banks (PSBs) have written off bad loans worth about Rs 5.82 lakh crore over the last five financial years, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
In 2024-25, PSBs wrote off Rs 91,260 crore, a decline from Rs 1.15 lakh crore in 2023-24. The highest write-off during the period was recorded in 2020-21 at Rs 1.33 lakh crore, followed by Rs 1.27 lakh crore in 2022-23 and Rs 1.16 lakh crore in 2021-22.
Chaudhary stated that recoveries in the same period stood at about Rs 1.65 lakh crore, amounting to roughly 28 per cent of the loans written off. “Such write-off does not result in waiver of liabilities of borrowers and therefore, it does not benefit the borrower,” he said, adding that banks continue to pursue recovery actions.
Under Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, banks may write off non-performing assets (NPAs) after making full provisions over a period of four years, subject to board-approved policies. Recovery efforts continue even after accounts are written off, through measures including suits in civil courts, proceedings in Debt Recovery Tribunals, and cases filed with the National Company Law Tribunal under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
Chaudhary also provided data on recoveries under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act for 2024-25. “According to provisional data from the RBI, Scheduled Commercial Banks recovered Rs 32,466 crore from 2,15,709 cases under the SARFAESI Act,” he noted.
Responding to another query, the minister said more than Rs 21.68 lakh crore has been sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) nationwide in the past five years.