Bad loans of state-run banks at Rs 1.43 lakh cr

Non-performing assets were Rs 1.12 lakh crore as of March 31, 2012, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

"The gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of public sector banks (PSBs) was Rs 1,12,489 crore as at end March, 2012 and Rs 1,43,765 crore as at end September, 2012," he said.

"The gross NPAs of State Bank of India was 33 per cent and 31.9 per cent of the GNPAs of PSBs as at end of March, 2012 and September, 2012 respectively," he added.

The NPAs of the state-owned country's largest lender State Bank of India also remained substantially high.

"The gross NPAs (GNPAs) of State Bank of India was 33 per cent and 31.9 per cent of the GNPAs of PSBs as at end of March, 2012 and September, 2012, respectively," Meena said.

The gross NPAs of the nationalised banks were at Rs 35,460 crore in 2009-10, Rs 42,940 crore in 2010-11, Rs 66,790 crore in 2011-12 and Rs 87,560 crore as of September 2012, he said.

Meena said the Reserve Bank has issued instructions to banks to have a recovery policy to improve the health of financial sector, reduce NPAs and to improve asset quality of banks and prevent slippages.

Banks are required to monitor their NPAs and take steps to bring them down through recovery or other channels, the Minister said.

Meena said the RBI also monitors the NPA levels in

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