50,300 defaulters of bank loans of Rs1 cr or more: RBI

Manish Pachouly, Hindustan Times; Mumbai, February 27, 2011,

There are 50,300 defaulters across India who have not repaid loans amounting to Rs1 crore and more each in the last 15 years. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has mentioned this in response to a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Though the RBI has not mentioned the amount of the defaulted loans, it is easily more than Rs 50,000 crore even if the minimum default figure of Rs1 crore is considered. The RTI query filed by one Manoranjan Roy had sought details of loan defaulters from the year 1995.

However, figures available with the All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA), which publishes reports on wilful defaulters, shows the defaulted loan amount figure is more than Rs 75 lakh crore in the last 20 years. The AIBEA is coming out with a fresh report by the end of next month, which will have the latest default figures (of Rs 75 lakh crore).

“This includes those defaulting on amounts of Rs 25 lakh or more,” said Vishwas Utagi, secretary, AIBEA. Utagi said of the total defaulted amount, around 40% would be in Maharashtra alone. So, the amount of loans defaulted on in the state works out to Rs 30 lakh crore.