Bad loans or the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) in the state crossed the Rs 37,000 crore-mark by the end of June this year — an increase of 5.65 per cent as compared to last year, according to a report released on Tuesday after the State-level Banker’s Meeting (SLBC) stated.
Bad loans or the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) in the state crossed the Rs 37,000 crore-mark by the end of June this year — an increase of 5.65 per cent as compared to last year, according to a report released on Tuesday after the State-level Banker’s Meeting (SLBC) stated.
The gross NPAs that stood at Rs 35,342 crore at the end of June 2017, now stand at Rs 37,342 crore. However, the bankers point out that the percentage of NPAs to the total loans extended by the banking sector in Gujarat have reduced year-on-year to 6.84 per cent from the 7.4 per cent in June 2017.
“The NPAs in Gujarat are pretty reasonable. If you look at the country average then the NPAs stand at 11 per cent,” said Ramesh Singh, chairman of SLBC and ED of Dena Bank.
“The main stress caused by larger NPA accounts have reduced. Now, most of the stress is coming from smaller accounts like the MSMEs,” he said.
Despite NPAs among MSMEs standing at Rs 7,290 crore, quantum of loans given to the sector by banks in the state have risen by 19 per cent compared to June 2017.
“The negative impact of GST on MSMEs is slowly receding and so the demand is increasing. But the bill payment delays caused by bigger corporates are adversely affecting the MSMEs,” Singh said.
On the reason for the NPAs increasing in June 2018 when compared to March 2018, the official said, “The bankers are under pressure to clean their books. Moreover, RBI auditors are stationed in the head offices of all banks and they do on-line screening. So the account NPAs are rising,” Singh said.
The SLBC report shows that the percentage of gross NPAs reported in Dhanlakshmi Bank (36.49 per cent), Jana Small Finance Bank (35.31 per cent), Allahabad Bank (33.71 per cent), Indian Overseas Bank (32 per cent) and Bank of Maharashtra (21.67 per cent) were the highest among individual banks at the end of June 2018.
The NPAs in power sector of Gujarat was not discussed during the meeting, Singh added.
The gross NPAs that stood at Rs 35,342 crore at the end of June 2017, now stand at Rs 37,342 crore. However, the bankers point out that the percentage of NPAs to the total loans extended by the banking sector in Gujarat have reduced year-on-year to 6.84 per cent from the 7.4 per cent in June 2017.
“The NPAs in Gujarat are pretty reasonable. If you look at the country average then the NPAs stand at 11 per cent,” said Ramesh Singh, chairman of SLBC and ED of Dena Bank.
“The main stress caused by larger NPA accounts have reduced. Now, most of the stress is coming from smaller accounts like the MSMEs,” he said.
Despite NPAs among MSMEs standing at Rs 7,290 crore, quantum of loans given to the sector by banks in the state have risen by 19 per cent compared to June 2017.
“The negative impact of GST on MSMEs is slowly receding and so the demand is increasing. But the bill payment delays caused by bigger corporates are adversely affecting the MSMEs,” Singh said.
On the reason for the NPAs increasing in June 2018 when compared to March 2018, the official said, “The bankers are under pressure to clean their books. Moreover, RBI auditors are stationed in the head offices of all banks and they do on-line screening. So the account NPAs are rising,” Singh said.
The SLBC report shows that the percentage of gross NPAs reported in Dhanlakshmi Bank (36.49 per cent), Jana Small Finance Bank (35.31 per cent), Allahabad Bank (33.71 per cent), Indian Overseas Bank (32 per cent) and Bank of Maharashtra (21.67 per cent) were the highest among individual banks at the end of June 2018.
The NPAs in power sector of Gujarat was not discussed during the meeting, Singh added.