Over 43 per cent of the total non-performing assets (NPA) till March 2019 — Rs 4.02 lakh crore — was accounted for by just 100 companies and 30 of these borrowers accounted for over 30 per cent of the gross NPAs — Rs 2.86 lakh crore, an investigation by The Indian Express has revealed.
India’s scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) had gross NPAs worth Rs 9.33 lakh crore as of March 31, 2019, the second-highest-ever bad loan amount recorded after 2018 in the history of India’s banking system.
The investigation further shows that the top 100 bank defaulters, which includes some of the country’s biggest companies from across sectors run by prominent industrialists, had a total debt of Rs 8.44 lakh crore till March 31, 2019 and out of this nearly half was declared as bad loans, or NPA.
A closer look at the list of the top defaulters also shows just 15 companies of three sectors — manufacturing, energy and construction — accounted for over 50 per cent (Rs 4.58 lakh crore) of the total debt on these 100 companies.
For the first time, the list of top 100 bank defaulters has been accessed by The Indian Express under the Right To Information Act. This list came after knocking at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) doors through multiple RTI applications and appeals over a four-year-period since 2019. The matter reached up to the Central Information Commission (CIC) and after multiple hearings, the central bank disclosed the information in November 2023, and that also only partially.
The total NPAs rose from Rs 3.23 lakh crore as on March 31, 2015 to Rs 10.36 lakh crore as on March 31, 2018, which was the highest ever. It then came down in 2019, and further down to Rs 5.71 lakh crore as on March 2023, partly on account of writedowns undertaken by lenders.
The data accessed under the RTI Act also shows that top 100 bank defaulters, which may have changed since 2019, accounted for an NPA amount of Rs 1.07 lakh crore as on March 31, 2024.
The country’s top business giants from across the sectors — manufacturing, energy, construction, real estate, telecom, banking or financial intermediation — constitute the top 100 list of NPAs or banks defaulters.
In the first part of the investigation, The Indian Express revealed that a total of 82 entities in the list are at different stages of bankruptcy proceedings, with roughly about a third having gone the liquidation route, meaning that banks would have got very little money back in these cases.
According to the RBI data, Reliance Communication Limited, ship-building company Reliance Naval & Engineering Limited and at least two subsidiary companies of Reliance Group, Jaypee Group’s Jaiprakash Associates Limited, Jaiprakash Power Venture Limited, and Jaypee Infratech Limited, Infrastructure finance company IL&FS’s IL&FS Financial Services Limited, IL&FS Tamil Nadu Power Company Limited, IL&FS Transportation Networks Limited, and IL&FS Energy Development Company Ltd., Jet Airways, Ruchi Soya Industries (now Patanjali Foods), two companies of the Videocon group, Jindal India Thermal Power, four companies of Essar group, five companies of infrastructure group LANCO, Mehul Choksi’s Gitanjali Gems, are among the companies on the list.
While a maximum — 34 companies belong to the energy sector, 32 companies are from the manufacturing sector, 20 construction or real estate companies, five telecom companies, and nine companies belong to other sectors.
Quantum of debt
Bhushan Power & Steel Limited tops the list with an outstanding debt of Rs 41,400 crore as on March 2019. Essar Steel India Limited is in second position, with an outstanding debt of Rs 69,360 crore. The company was later acquired by ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Limited in 2019.
The other companies in top 10 are Videocon Industries Limited with a debt of Rs 58,052 crore, VOVL Limited (Rs 1,189 crore debt), Jaiprakash Associates Limited (debt of Rs 36,591 crore), KSK Mahanadi Power Company Limited (debt of Rs 21,390 crore), Reliance Communications Limited (debt of Rs 46,659 crore), Alok Industries Limited (debt of Rs 29,569 crore), Prayagraj Power Generation Company Limited (debt of Rs 13,767 crore) and Jaiprakash Power Ventures Limited with a debt of Rs 23,193 crore.
The top 100 bank defaulters are listed according to their outstanding NPAs. In the list, companies having higher borrowings may reflect a lower NPA amount.
Other known companies such as Gitanjali Gems Limited is on 13th number, Dishnet Wireless Limited on 14th position, AIRCEL Limited on 16th, Jindal India Thermal Power Limited on 18th, Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) on 21st, Ruchi Soya Industries Limited on 26th number, Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited on 30th number, Essar Power Gujarat Limited on 35th number, Lanco Amarkantak Power Limited on 40th number, Rotomac Global Private Limited on 70th number, Mumbai Metro One Private Limited on 79th number, Nakshatra Brands Limited on 86th number, Visa Power Limited on 95th number, Rapid Metrorail Gurgaon South Ltd on 99th, and Gammon India Limited is on the 100th number in the list.
These companies are involved in multiple important projects such as extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas, thermal and hydro power generation, coal mining, oil & gas exploration, ship building, fertilisers etc.
An analysis of 2023 debt status of these 100 companies through their annual reports and Annual Returns filed with the Registrar of Companies shows that a total of 51 companies, of which records are available, still had a debt of Rs 3.58 lakh crore by the end of FY23.
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