RBI loan default list featureswho's who of corporate India

RBI loan default list featureswho's who of corporate India
Sitanshu Swain

Mumbai, January 3: The Reserve Bank of India's confidential list of loan defaulters till March 1999 (which lists defaults of over Rs 1 crore) has pegged the size of sticky loans at Rs 39,869.17 crore, up from Rs 28,547.19 crore in March 1998. The defaults concern loans given by 82 institutions, including three financial institutions, 28 public sector banks, 21 foreign banks and 33 private sector banks.

Some of the new names that have featured in the defaulters' list include Amitabh Bachchan of ABCL, Mukesh Gupta of the Lloyds group, Bijon Nag of IFB Industries, Kanwaljit Singh of Allianz Capital, P Rajarathinam and ITC Bhadrachalam.

The official RBI figure of non-performing assets (NPAs) as in March 1999 was Rs 58,554 crore, but this amount includes sticky loans below Rs 1 crore as well. The real figure should be much higher since this figure captures only the NPAs of the scheduled commercial banks and does not include the sticky loans of three financial institutions.

During the period between April1998 and March 1999, the central bank added 1,500 new names to the defaulters' list, taking the tally to 7,523.

Big bull Harshad Mehta's sticky account to State Bank of India amounting Rs 812 crore since November 1992 continues to remain as the most heavyweight NPA in the industry.

Practically a compendium of corporate India, some of the well-known names which appear in the central bank's defaulters' list (1998-1999) are Gian Prakash of the Parasrampuria group for defaulting to the tune of around Rs 487 crore, Vijay Mallya of United Breweries (Rs 4.72 crore to Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi), Sanjay Dalmia of Dalmia group (Rs 60 crore), Y C Deveshwar, chairman of ITC Bhadrachlam (Rs 20.82 crore), the Ruias of Essar Power (Rs 17 crore), Kanwaljit Singh of Allianz Capital & Management Services (Rs 5.2 crore), and Vinay Bhrat Ram of DCM Ltd (Rs 5.44 crore).

The list of names also include Daminder Singh Batra of Rajinder Steels (Rs 67 crore), V K Modi of Modistone (Rs 15.96 crore to Punjab National Bank andCanara Bank), Satish Thapar of the M M Thapar group (Rs 47.67 crore to IDBI, ICICI and other banks), Mukesh Gupta of Lloyds group (Rs 120 crore to SBI), Manu Chabaria of Shaw Wallace and Dunlop (Rs 18 crore to HSBC and Standard Chartered), Bijon Nag of IFB Industries (Rs 9 crore to China Trust and Commerce Bank, Credit Lyonnais and Commerz Bank), B K Shah of Precision Fasteners (Rs 7.43 crore to Sakura Bank), Amitabh Bachchan of Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd (Rs 9.64 crore to Canara Bank), Ravi Prakash Khemka of NEPC India (Rs 7.28 crore to Vyasya bank), Rashik Lal S Mardia of Mardia Chemicals (Rs 53 crore to Corporation Bank and British Bank of Middle East), Arvind N Mafatlal of Mafatlal Engineering Industries (Rs 19.23 crore to SBI and ICICI), and Rita Singh and J K Singh of Mesco group (Rs 8.45 crore and 2.94 crore, respectively, to Syndicate and other banks).

Other names include: B H Kothari of Kothari Sugars & Chemicals (Rs 8 crore to IDBI and Bank of Tokyo Mitshubishi), D V Padode of Dalal StreetFinance (Rs 1.35 crore to ICICI), Lalit Parekh of Enarai Finance (Rs 3.47 crore to Dena Bank), H S Ranka of Modern Threads (Rs 139.62 crore to IFCI), C R Bhansali (Rs 75 crore to SBI and State Bank of Travancore), S P Gaekwad of Baroda Rayon (Rs 8.50 crore to IFCI and IDBI), B K Modi of Madhu Milan Syntex (Rs 14.87 crore to Syndicate Bank), Anjan Agarawal of Hanil Era Textiles (Rs 52 crore to SBI and State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur), N N Pai of Sterling Holiday Resorts (Rs 15 crore to Citibank and HSBC), and Lalit Gandhi of Lok Housing and Constructions (Rs 1.18 crore to Bank of India).The list also features Vayudoot Ltd a Government of India undertaking (Rs 4.54 crore to Bank of India), ITC Classic, which has been taken over by ICICI (Rs 30 crore to StanChart) and Pal-Peugeot (Rs 42.20 crore to StanChart and HSBC).

The RBI has even named United Commercial Bank (Uco) itself as having defaulted on an amount of Rs 6.94 crore to Bank of Rajasthan. The other interesting feature of the list is the inclusionof West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu and Karnataka-based activist H K Nanjundaswamy in the list. Basu is the chairman of the Society for Sports and Stadium which has defaulted in payment of Rs 6.28 crore to SBI, Canara bank and United Bank of India.