Over Rs 2 lakh crore bad loans settled, says govt official

Over Rs 2 lakh crore worth of loan defaults have been settled and fresh addition of non-performing assets of financial institutions has also come down after the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) came into being in 2016, said a top government official here Friday.

“I do not want IBC to be the first resort, we wanted it to be the last resort. What is the situation today is exactly that (last resort),” secretary to Ministry of Corporate Affairs Injeti Srinivas said.

He was speaking at the inaugural session of a three-day international conference on ‘Insolvency and Bankruptcy Laws. Global Response’ organised by ICFAI Law School, in association with Delaware Law School, Widener University and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India.

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The Reserve Bank report shows that the fresh addition to the NPAs has declined so has the overall NPS, Srinivas said. For every one case settled under the National Company Law Board Tribunal, nine cases have been settled outside the tribunal, he said.

Earlier, some businessmen used to develop ‘vested interest’ in failing businesses and as a result there was no competitive spirit among the entrepreneurs, he said. The IBC brought in competition for entrepreneurship and capital, he said.

During the pre-IBC regime, it used to take over four years for resolution for sick companies and it cost 9 to 10 per cent insolvency cost to manage the assets, Srinivas further said.

The recovery rate then was around 25 to 26 per cent. In the last two years, this has changed, he said.

The recovery rate in 80-odd cases which have been resolved has been about 48 per cent and the insolvency cost has been less than one per cent, he said.