Textiles constitute the second largest NPA account in ICICI's books. The largest NPA account is made up of the financial institution's exposure to the manmade fibres industry, a sector closely associated with the textiles industry. The manmade fibres industry accounts for 17.2 per cent of ICICI's NPA, up from 16 per cent in 1996-97. Textiles and manmade fibres sectors account for NPAs worth Rs 307.65 crore and Rs 482.94 crore for 1997-98, up from Rs 123.37 and Rs 313.64 crore in 1996-97 respectively.

Fresh disbursals by ICICI to the textiles sector in 1997-98 were Rs 710 crore, amounting to 4.5 per cent of its total disbursals. The total outstanding exposure to the sector is Rs 3,240 crore, constituting 8.6 per cent of its total loanexposures. Nearly 10 per cent of ICICI's exposure to this sector has turned into NPAs as on March 31, 1998. Fresh disbursals in the manmade fibres sector amounts to Rs 60 crore against an outstanding of Rs 1,100 crore.

The other sectors which have shown an increase in NPAs in percentage terms are other chemicals (5.7 per cent to 6.5 per cent), iron and steel (5.3 per cent to 5.5 per cent), machinery (2.8 per cent to 2.9 per cent), electrical equipment (2.3 per cent to 2.4 per cent) electronics (6.4 per cent to 7 per cent) and transport equipment (3.9 per cent to 4.3 per cent).

Though the other sectors managed to reduce their NPAs as a percentage to ICICI's increased asset base, they have recorded an increase in their NPAs in absolute terms. The only sectors which have managed to reduce their NPAs in absolute terms are sugar, fertilisers and pesticides and chemicals. ICICI had reported an increase in the net NPA to 7.6 per cent of its total loan assets from 6.8 per cent in 1996-97. This is despite anintensive recovery drive launched by the financial institution in the last fiscal.

The increase in bad loans has been attributed to the recession in the economy.

ICICI moves towards monthly auditing

ICICI is planning to come out with monthly auditing of its balance sheet. This was stated in the latest annual report of the financial institution.

"After being the first financial institution to report audited quarterly performance, ICICI is moving towards a system of monthly audit. The globalisation of the Indian economy in general and the financial sector in particular has necessitated reporting financials in accordance with the international practice," said the ICICI annual report for 1997-98.