Public sector banks (PSBs) in India have written off non-performing assets (NPAs) worth over Rs 4.48 lakh crore in the last four financial years, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, August 7.
The big write-off has raised questions on accountability and transparency in public banking, says a report by The Tribune.
SBI Tops the List With Rs 80,000+ Crore in Write-Offs
NPA means a debt instrument where the borrower has defaulted on interest or principal repayment, making the loan at risk of default.
According to The Tribune, State Bank of India (SBI) has written off Rs 80,197 crore from FY22 to FY25. It is followed by Union Bank of India at Rs 68,557 crore, Punjab National Bank at Rs 65,366 crore and Bank of Baroda at Rs 55,279 crore.
Canara Bank has written off Rs 47,359 crore, while Indian Bank has written off Rs 29,949 crore during the same period.
Write-Offs Are “Technical”, Government Clarifies
In total, 12 PSBs have written off Rs 4.48 lakh crore.
Government says loan write-offs are “technical” and are done as per RBI guidelines after provisioning for four years. “A write-off does not mean waiving the borrower’s obligation,” the ministry said, as per the report.
It added that recovery efforts are on through legal frameworks like Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), SARFAESI Act, Debt Recovery Tribunals and civil courts.
But it did not give any information on how much has been recovered after the write-offs.
Earlier in July, the finance MoS had told Parliament in a written reply that gross NPAs of public sector banks had come down from 9.11% in March 2021 to 2.58% in March 2025.