Punjab National Bank, which has been hit by a Rs 13,600-crore scam, plans to sell 21 big loan defaulters to financial institutions to recover Rs 1,320.19 crore. "We intend to place these accounts for sale to ARCs/NBFCs/other banks/FIs etc, on terms and conditions stipulated in the bank's policy, in line with the regulatory guidelines," PNB said in a notification.
The controversy-hit lender has invited bids for the e-auction to be held through the bank's portal on September 20. These non-performing assets (NPAs) are spread across Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Patna, Chandigarh and Patna zones of PNB.
The list includes Moser Baer Solar with an outstanding of Rs 233.06 crore, Divine Alloys & Power Co Ltd Rs 200.87 crore, Divine Vidyut Rs 132.66 crore, Chincholi Sugar & Bio Industries Rs 114.42 crore, Arshiya Northern FTWZ Ltd Rs 96.70 crore, Birla Surya Rs 73.58 crore, Shri Saikrupa Sugar & Allied Industries Rs 63.35 crore and Raja Forgings & Gears Ltd Rs 59.73 crore. Templeton Foods (Rs 53.17 crore), Paritran Medical College & Hospital (Rs 51.14 crore), Rathi Ispat (Rs 45.48 crore), James Hotel (Rs 33.50 crore) and Jain Overseas (Rs 33.41 crore).
The public sector lender had put three NPA accounts for sale in April this fiscal and another three accounts in July with collective dues of more than Rs 350 crore. The scam-hit lender made NPA recoveries of over Rs 7,700 crore in the first quarter of 2018-19, which surpassed the total recoveries it made in full 2017-18, as the bank intensified its efforts to cut bad loans from its balance sheet.
Jewellers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi allegedly cheated the bank through issuance of fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs).