<p>Banks wrote off loans worth Rs 10.57 lakh crore between financial years 2018-19 to 2022-23, in order to clean up their balance and avail tax benefits, Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad informed Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.</p>.<p>The highest amount of loan written off during the five year period was in 2018-19 at Rs 2.36 lakh crore. In 2019-20 it declined marginally to Rs 2.34 lakh crore. In pandemic hit 2020-21, Rs 2.02 lakh crore loans were written off by scheduled commercial banks.</p>.Karnataka has 3rd highest outstanding agriculture loans.<p>During the financial year ended March 2023, commercial banks wrote off Rs 2.09 lakh crore. The total loans written off between the financial year 2018-19 and 2022-23 stands at Rs 10,57,326 crore.</p>.<p>As per RBI guidelines and policy approved by banks’ Boards, non-performing loans, including, inter-alia, those in respect of which full provisioning has been made on completion of four years, are removed from the balance-sheet of the bank concerned by way of write-off, the minister said in reply to a question by Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar.</p>.Byju’s lenders accused of using bogus loan-default claims.<p>Sircar, who represents Trinmool Congress Party in the upper house of parliament, said the loan write off during Prime Minister Narendra Modi government is the highest ever.</p>.<p>"MoS Finance has replied for only 5 years here, but elsewhere he has given me figures for the remaining 4 years of Modi rule. The total write-off by banks in the last 9 years of this regime comes to Rs 14.51 lakh crore but the amount recovered after write-off comes to Rs 1.87 lakh crore," Sircar said.</p>.<p>“This is our money lying in banks that Govt & RBI have directed banks to wipe out and adjust the loans of frauds, asset-strippers, wilful defaulters and criminals— without telling us,” he added. </p>.<p>However, Karad noted in his reply to the parliament that “borrowers of written-off loans continue to be liable for repayment and the process of recovery continues.”</p>.<p>Banks write-off NPAs as part of their regular exercise to clean up their balance-sheet, avail tax benefit and optimise capital, in accordance with RBI guidelines and policy approved by their Boards, the minister said. </p>
<p>Banks wrote off loans worth Rs 10.57 lakh crore between financial years 2018-19 to 2022-23, in order to clean up their balance and avail tax benefits, Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad informed Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.</p>.<p>The highest amount of loan written off during the five year period was in 2018-19 at Rs 2.36 lakh crore. In 2019-20 it declined marginally to Rs 2.34 lakh crore. In pandemic hit 2020-21, Rs 2.02 lakh crore loans were written off by scheduled commercial banks.</p>.Karnataka has 3rd highest outstanding agriculture loans.<p>During the financial year ended March 2023, commercial banks wrote off Rs 2.09 lakh crore. The total loans written off between the financial year 2018-19 and 2022-23 stands at Rs 10,57,326 crore.</p>.<p>As per RBI guidelines and policy approved by banks’ Boards, non-performing loans, including, inter-alia, those in respect of which full provisioning has been made on completion of four years, are removed from the balance-sheet of the bank concerned by way of write-off, the minister said in reply to a question by Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar.</p>.Byju’s lenders accused of using bogus loan-default claims.<p>Sircar, who represents Trinmool Congress Party in the upper house of parliament, said the loan write off during Prime Minister Narendra Modi government is the highest ever.</p>.<p>"MoS Finance has replied for only 5 years here, but elsewhere he has given me figures for the remaining 4 years of Modi rule. The total write-off by banks in the last 9 years of this regime comes to Rs 14.51 lakh crore but the amount recovered after write-off comes to Rs 1.87 lakh crore," Sircar said.</p>.<p>“This is our money lying in banks that Govt & RBI have directed banks to wipe out and adjust the loans of frauds, asset-strippers, wilful defaulters and criminals— without telling us,” he added. </p>.<p>However, Karad noted in his reply to the parliament that “borrowers of written-off loans continue to be liable for repayment and the process of recovery continues.”</p>.<p>Banks write-off NPAs as part of their regular exercise to clean up their balance-sheet, avail tax benefit and optimise capital, in accordance with RBI guidelines and policy approved by their Boards, the minister said. </p>