Nirav Modi Effect? More Bank Officers Face Charges Over Bad Loans

Over half the bank officers facing action are of the rank of general manager and above.

The worst of the bad loan problem plaguing Indian banks may not be over just yet.

(Photo: Reuters)

Following the Rs 13,000-crore alleged fraud at Punjab National Bank (PNB) involving diamantaire Nirav Modi, which emerged in February this year, law enforcement agencies have turned up the notch against bank employees involved in extending bank loans.

According to a report by The Indian Express, the number of bank officials who have been booked has surged from just 10 at the end of March to 50 now, and over half of them are of the rank of general manager and above.

Indian public sector banks’ (PSB) bad loans soared 1.5 times, from Rs 2.67 lakh crore on 31 March 2015, to Rs 6.89 lakh crore on 30 June 2017, according to the reply to the Lok Sabha by Shiv Pratap Shukla, former minister of state for finance, earlier in April.

Of the 21 public sector banks, 11 had non-performing assets (NPAs), greater than 15 percent of total assets, as per data cited by the minister. In light of the PNB fraud, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had placed all 11 under scrutiny.

Currently, there are 292 cases across 44 public and private sector banks involving allegations of “cheating” and “fraud” are under various stages of investigation by the CBI alone, the Express report added.

(With inputs from The Indian Express.)