As of March 2019, over 43 per cent of the total non-performing assets (NPAs) – Rs 4.02 lakh crore – were accounted for by a total of 100 companies and 30 of these borrowers contributed more than 30 per cent of the gross NPAs – Rs 2.86 lakh crore. , research by The Indian Express disclosed.
India’s Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) had a gross NPA of Rs 9.33 lakh crore as of March 31, 2019, the second-highest bad loan amount recorded in the history of India’s banking system since 2018.
The research further shows that the top 100 bank defaulters, which include the country’s largest companies from various sectors run by major industrialists, had a total debt of Rs 8.44 lakh crore as on March 31, 2019 and almost half of it was declared. Bad loans, or NPAs.
A closer look at the list of top defaulters shows that only 15 companies from three sectors – manufacturing, power and construction – contribute more than 50 per cent (Rs 4.58 lakh crore) of total debt to these 100 companies.
For the first time, the list of top 100 bank defaulters has been accessed The Indian Express Under the Right to Information Act. The list comes after knocking on the doors of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) through several RTI applications and appeals over a period of four years from 2019. The matter reached the Central Information Commission (CIC) and after several hearings the central bank disclosed the information in November 2023, and that too partially.
Gross NPAs rose from Rs 3.23 lakh crore as on March 31, 2015 to Rs 10.36 lakh crore as on March 31, 2018, the highest ever. It came down in 2019, and fell to Rs 5.71 lakh crore by March 2023, partly due to writedowns by lenders.
Data accessed under the RTI Act also shows that the top 100 bank defaulters, which may have changed from 2019, accounted for an NPA amount of Rs 1.07 lakh crore as on March 31, 2024.
The country’s top business giants from sectors like manufacturing, energy, construction, real estate, telecom, banking or financial intermediation make up the top 100 list of NPAs or bank defaulters.
In the first part of the research. The Indian Express A total of 82 institutions on the list are in various stages of the bankruptcy process, with about a third going the liquidation route, which means banks have gotten very little money back in these cases, it revealed.
According to RBI data, Reliance Communications Ltd., shipbuilder Reliance Naval & Engineering Ltd. and at least two subsidiaries of the Reliance Group, Jayprakash Associates Ltd., Jayprakash Power Ventures Ltd., and JP Infratech Ltd., infrastructure company IL & Engineering Ltd., infrastructure company IL & Infrastructure Limited. Financial Services Limited, IL&FS Tamil Nadu Power Company Limited, IL&FS Transport Network Limited, and IL&FS Energy Development Company Ltd, Jet Airways, Ruchi Soya Industries (now Patanjali Foods), two companies of Videocon group, Jindal India Thermal Power, four companies. Five companies of Essar group, infrastructure group Lanco, Geetanjali Gems are among the companies on Mehul Choksi’s list.
Most of them are 34 in the energy sector, 32 in the manufacturing sector, 20 in the construction or real estate sector, five in the telecommunication company and nine in other sectors.
Amount of loan
Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd topped the list with outstanding loans of Rs 41,400 crore as of March 2019. Essar Steel India Limited is second with outstanding debt of Rs 69,360 crore. The company was later acquired by ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Limited in 2019.
Other companies in the top 10 include Videocon Industries Limited with 58,052 crore debt, VOVL Ltd (1,189 crore debt), Jayaprakash Associates Ltd (36,591 crore debt), KSK Mahanadi Power Company Ltd (921 crore debt), , Reliance Communications Ltd (debt Rs 46,659 crore), Alok Industries Ltd (debt Rs 29,569 crore), Prayagraj Power Generation Company Ltd (13,767 crore debt) and Jayaprakash Power Ventures Ltd with 23,193 crore debt.
The top 100 bank defaulters are listed according to their outstanding NPAs. In the list, companies with higher debt may reflect lower NPA amount.
Other well-known companies are Gitanjali Gems Limited 13th, Dishnet Wireless Limited 14th, Aircel Limited 16th, Jindal India Thermal Power Limited 18th, Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) 21st, Rushima Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS). 26th No., Reliance Naval & Engineering Ltd. 30th No., Essar Power Gujarat Ltd. No. 35, Lanco Amarkantak Power Ltd. No. 40, Rotomac Global Pvt. Ltd. No. 70, Mumbai Metro One Private Limited No. 79, Nakshatra Brands Ltd. No. 86, Vs. Ranked 95th, Rapid Metrorail Gurgaon South Limited is 99th and Gammon India Limited is 100th.
These companies are involved in many important projects like extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas, thermal and hydropower generation, coal mining, oil and gas exploration, shipbuilding, fertilizers etc.
An analysis of the 2023 debt status of these 100 companies in their annual reports and annual returns filed with the Registrar of Companies shows that a total of 51 companies, for which records are available, still had debt of Rs 3.58 lakh crore. FY23.
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