Indian banks have written off loans worth Rs 1.53 lakh crore in 2020-21 to show reduced non-performing assets (NPAs) on their books, calculations based on numbers released by individual banks showed. This is the second-highest amount of loans being written off in a financial year over the last decade after 2018-19's record Rs 2.54 lakh crore write-offs.  For one, loans that have been bad for years are dropped from the balance sheet of banks by way of a write-off and corporates compri...

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the interim relief granted earlier to not declare the accounts of respective borrowers as non-performing assets stands vacated, ending the blanket ban on classification of non-performing assets (NPAs). “However, there shall be no order as to costs,” the order by the top court said. In September last year, the Supreme Court had directed that accounts not declared NPAs as of August 31 should not be classified as such until further orders. This ha...

The Supreme Court Thursday directed that accounts, which were not declared as non-performing asset till August 31 this year, shall not be declared NPA till further orders. A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said this while hearing a batch of pleas which have raised the issue of interest being charged on instalments which were deferred under moratorium period due to COVID-19 pandemic. The apex court passed the order while noting the submissions of senior lawyer Harish Salve, who appear...

The Finance Ministry has asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to relax asset classification norms for farm loans extended by banks following the stress faced by the agriculture sector. In a letter addressed to RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, the Ministry said, “it is requested to consider making appropriate relaxation in asset classification norms in respect of short-term agricultural crop loans for a period up to 30th June 2020.” The letter, reviewed by The Hindu, cited a commu...

Public sector banks (PSBs) have recovered close to Rs 1.2 lakh crore from stressed assets during the financial ended March, primarily helped by resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), an official said. During the first half of the previous fiscal, banks recovered Rs 60,713 crore from bad loans. "Due to non-resolution of some big accounts referred under NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal), PSBs could not achieve the resolution target of Rs 1.80 lakh crore. But, thes...