The data was made available after the Reserve Bank of India ordered an asset quality review and encouraged banks to tighten their provisioning norms, which push banks to set aside additional funds against loans given out as a safeguard. The apex bank had also asked banks to classify around 130 stressed accounts as NPAs.
Of all the money lenders, State Bank of India tops the list with its gross NPAs jumping to Rs 1,01,541 crore in this quarter from Rs 56,420.77 crore in June 2015. According to a study by Care Ratings, public sector banks were largely responsible for this hike. Gross NPA ratio to advances nearly doubled at public sector banks – from 5.3% to 10.4%, Bad loans of PSU banks soared from Rs 2,85,748 crore last year to Rs 5,71,443 crore by June this year. At private banks, there was a rise of 68% in gross NPAs from Rs 34,805 crore in 2015 to Rs 58,331 crore this year, while the NPA ratio increased from 2.15% to 3.03%.
However, bankers said the NPAs will shrink in the next two quarters. Indian Banks Association Chairperson Ashwani Kumar said, "I am sure that if genuine borrowers are supported, they will shortly come out." Chief Financial Officer of Bank of Baroda VS Narang echoed his views, adding that the pace of increase of NPAs has slowed down.
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