Essar, Amtek, Bhushan, Lanco among 12 big bad loan accounts on RBI list

Amid growing concerns regarding stress in the public sector banks due to bad loans, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reportedly sent bankers the list of 12 stressed accounts that they must resolve through the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

According to a CNBC TV 18 report, the 12 accounts include Essar Steel, Bhushan Steel, Bhushan Power, Alok Industries, Electrosteel Steels, JP Infra, Lanco Infratech, Monnet Ispat, Jyoti Structures, ABG Shipyard, Amtek Auto and Era Infra.

Bhushan Steel's debt of over Rs 44,000 crore may be the single largest NPA that banks have on their books, it added.

Lenders have an exposure of more than Rs 5,000 crore to these accounts and more than 60 per cent of which have been identified as non-performing assets, the report said.

The RBI on June 13 had said it had identified 12 stressed accounts for insolvency proceedings with each of them having over Rs 5,000 crore of outstanding loans, accounting for 25 per cent of total NPAs of banks.

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

These 12 accounts would qualify for immediate reference under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), the RBI had earlier said.

The Reserve Bank had set up an Internal Advisory Committee (IAC), comprising a majority of its independent board members, to advise it with regard to the cases that may be considered for reference for resolution under the IBC.