Rs 15,000 cr NPAs written off

Bad loans worth Rs 15,053 crore belonging to 27 banks, including the State Bank of India (SBI), Punhab National Bank (PNB) and Bank of Baroda, have been written off in the last couple of years, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram informed the Lok Sabha on Friday.

Chidambaram pointed out that a sum of Rs 6261.7 crore was written off in 2002, while in 2003, the amount was Rs 8791.6 crore.

The total NPA in both priority and non-priority sectors in March 2004 was estimated at Rs 50,148 crore, the minister said.

The recoveries effected by the PSBs rose from Rs 18,730 crore to Rs 20,705 crore on March 31 2004, he added.