Icra reports surge in banks' NPA slippage
Bank loans worth Rs 22,000 crore which were recast under Strategic Debt Restructuring (SDR) in 2015-16 had slipped into the non-performing asset (NPA) category during the final quarter ended March of 2016-17, according to rating agency ICRA.On a failure in SDR loans, banks have to start making provisions for these on the balance sheet, at a time when revenue growth has been tepid or stagnant and credit costs are going up.SDR rules give lenders an 18-month window for bringing strategic investors for a troubled loan. In this period, the loans are treated as standard assets. It saves banks from having to make provisions for such loans.The bill for NPA provisions might expand substantially -- slippages from SDR accounts are estimated to have more than doubled to Rs 49,500 crore in the April-June 2017 period, according to ICRA. In its sample set, 61 large borrowers having total debt of Rs 245,000 crore are currently undergoing a resolution through the SDR scheme. As on December 31, 2016, .12-04-2017
