Banks NPA at 7,358 cr in J’khand

Ranchi: Senior bank officers on Wednesday expressed concern over existing non-performing assets (NPA) of banks in the state and requested the government to appoint certificate officers (officers appointed by the state government who pass order on the certificate cases filed by the banks for recovery of loans.) in all districts for disposal of NPA-related cases. The issue was raised at the 83rd quarterly meet of State Level Bankers Committee in Ranchi. Finance minister Rameshwar Oroan, senior officers, state heads of banks and representatives of trade bodies took part in the meeting.MD and CEO of Bank of India (BoI) Rajnish Karnatak said as many as 7.2 lakh accounts worth 7,358 crore were NPA in Jharkhand by the end of financial year (FY) 2022-23 adding there is need to reduce the number.He observed, “In the absence of certificate officers in all districts, banks face difficulties in recovery of the loans. The court fee for filing the certificate case should be also reduced and fixed at flat 0.5% of the recovery amount.”He said different banks should also come up with their own policies to reduce NPA.It may be stated 7.3% of the loans of banks have become NPA in Jharkhand. In terms of amount, banks located in Ranchi have the highest NPA which amounts to 2,172 crore. Dhanbad is second with an NPA of 524 crore.In terms of percentage, Lohardaga has the highest NPA of 15.1% followed by Gumla at 14.5%. Among the public sector banks, Punjab National Bank has the highest NPA of 25% followed by the Indian Bank at 21.8%.As many as 20,515 certificate cases involving 336 crore were pending in the state as on March 31. Karnatak said credit deposit (CD) ratio of the banks was 45.07% by end of the last fiscal year. He said the slow manufacturing activities in the state was affecting the sanctioning of loans in the state.BoI general manager Manoj Kumar urged the bankers to reach the CD ratio of 50% by September 2023-24. He requested the state government to encourage investment in Jharkhand and also develop infrastructure.Bankers said lack of digitized and updated land records were hindering factors in giving loans. Oraon asked the banks to work keeping the interest of rural population in mind. RBI general manager Sanjeev Sinha threw light on the lead bank scheme of the bank.Check out the Valentine Day 2025 , along with the Valentine’s Day Wishes and Messages.