RBI identifies 12 accounts responsible for 25% of Rs 8 lakh crore bad loans

Mumbai: The RBI on Tuesday identified 12 accounts each having more than Rs 5,000 crore of outstanding loans and accounting for 25 percent of total NPAs of banks for immediate referral for resolution under the bankruptcy law.

Without naming the defaulters, the Reserve Bank said the lenders will be asked to initiate insolvency proceedings to recover the dues.

The banking sector is saddled with non-performing assets (NPAs) worth over Rs 8 lakh crore, of which Rs 6 lakh crore is with public sector banks (PSBs).

The Internal Advisory Committee (IAC), the central bank said, has arrived at an objective, non-discretionary criterion for referring accounts for resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

"In particular, the IAC recommended for IBC reference of all accounts with fund and non-fund based outstanding amount greater than Rs 5,000 crore, with 60 per cent or more classified as non-performing by banks as of March 31, 2016," the RBI said in a statement.

The IAC noted that under the recommended criterion, 12 accounts with about 25 per cent of the current gross NPAs of the banking system would qualify for immediate reference under IBC, it said.

The apex bank, based on the recommendations of the IAC, will accordingly be issuing directions to banks to file for insolvency proceedings under the IBC in the identified accounts. Such cases will be accorded priority by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).