Banks write-off Rs 16 lakh crore NPA Loans in 10 years, Check Bank Wise Data

TMC Rajya Sabha MP and former IAS officer Jawahar Sircar has criticized the Modi government in a recent post on the social media platform X. He alleges that money from his and other individuals’ bank accounts was utilized to cover up frauds and scams involving prominent figures such as Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, and other major corporates. He said that banks have written off around Rs 15.79 lakh crore in 10 years. Out of this Rs 11 lakh crore has been removed from public bank deposits to address these frauds. The public has paid for the big bank frauds.

Bank Write off Data (as of 2023)

In a span of nine years, from FY2015 to FY2023, India’s public sector banks have written off a staggering ₹10.42 lakh crore in loans, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India shared by the Union Finance Ministry in the Lok Sabha last December. However, these banks managed to recover ₹1.61 lakh crore of these written-off amounts.

Key Insights from Recent Data

An RTI response has shed light on the bank-wise reduction in non-performing assets (NPAs) and recovery from written-off accounts over the nine-year period.

Here’s a breakdown of the key findings:

• Loan Write-Off Trends: Over the nine years, public sector banks saw a 59% increase in the total amount of loan write-offs. The peak was in FY2019, when banks wrote off ₹1,83,202 crore in loans.
• Recovery Trends: Recoveries from these written-off loans increased by 85% during the same period, with the highest recovery occurring in FY2023 at ₹35,378 crore. Overall, banks managed to recover 15.5% of the loans they wrote off.

Top Banks by Loan Write-Offs and Recoveries

The detailed data highlights the performance of various banks in terms of loan write-offs and recoveries. Here are the top performers:

State Bank of India (SBI):

• Loan Write-Offs: ₹2,86,144 crore
• Recoveries: ₹54,481 crore (19% of its total write-offs)

Punjab National Bank (PNB):

• Loan Write-Offs: ₹1,05,478 crore
• Recoveries: ₹23,779 crore (22% of its total write-offs)

Bank of Baroda:

• Loan Write-Offs: ₹92,174 crore
• Recoveries: ₹12,305 crore

Union Bank of India:

• Loan Write-Offs: ₹78,294 crore
• Recoveries: ₹13,026 crore

Bank of India:

• Loan Write-Offs: ₹62,537 crore
• Recoveries: Not specified

Yearly Breakdown of Write-Offs and Recoveries

Here’s a yearly snapshot of the loan write-offs and recoveries:

• FY2015: Write-Offs – ₹49,018 crore; Recoveries – ₹5,461 crore
• FY2016: Write-Offs – ₹57,585 crore; Recoveries – ₹8,096 crore
• FY2017: Write-Offs – ₹81,683 crore; Recoveries – ₹8,680 crore
• FY2018: Write-Offs – ₹1,28,229 crore; Recoveries – ₹10,456 crore
• FY2019: Write-Offs – ₹1,83,202 crore; Recoveries – ₹19,067 crore
• FY2020: Write-Offs – ₹1,75,877 crore; Recoveries – ₹24,002 crore
• FY2021: Write-Offs – ₹1,31,894 crore; Recoveries – ₹24,781 crore
• FY2022: Write-Offs – ₹1,15,536 crore; Recoveries – ₹24,739 crore
• FY2023: Write-Offs – ₹1,18,950 crore; Recoveries – ₹35,378 crore

Focus on FY2023

In FY2023, the SBI had the highest loan write-offs at ₹24,061 crore, while also leading in recoveries with ₹7,097 crore. Notably, the difference between SBI’s loan write-off amount in FY2015 and FY2023 was ₹2,758 crore, with the peak write-off occurring in FY2019 at ₹58,905 crore.

The top five banks for loan write-offs in FY2023 were:

• SBI: ₹24,061 crore
• Union Bank of India: ₹19,175 crore
• Bank of Baroda: ₹17,998 crore
• PNB: ₹16,578 crore
• Central Bank of India: ₹10,258 crore

In terms of recoveries for FY2023, the leading banks were:

• SBI: ₹7,097 crore
• PNB: ₹6,508 crore
• Union Bank of India: ₹5,549 crore
• Canara Bank: ₹5,110 crore
• Bank of Baroda: ₹3,277 crore