Govt to meet bankers next week over mining loans

PRAKASH KAMAT/THE HINDU, PANAJI | 29 August 2013 20:02 IST

A special meeting of the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) has been convened by the Goa government and the State Bank of India (SBI), on September 5 to review the critical situation of mining-related advances of banks, only those banks whose mining-related Non Performing Assets (NPAs) exceed Rs. 10 lakh have been invited to make submissions.

The meeting was urgently summoned after Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar met with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Dy. Governor in Mumbai seeking RBI intervention to relieve the mining sector borrowers from bank overdues.

The RBI had asked the government to hold an SLBC meeting and submit the report for it to examine and suggest a way out of the crisis.

The borrowers include truck-owners, barge owners, mining machine-owners and many entrepreneurs of small commercial activities undertaken by people in the seven mining taluks as well as the vicinity of the port area in Mormugao that are out of work and income following the mining ban.

Thirty four out of 53 banks – including nationalised commercial banks, commercial banks and private sector banks – have a cumulative exposure of Rs. 1,650 crore to the mining-related sectors, sources in the SLBC told The Hindu on Wednesday.

Of this, Rs. 447 crore (25-27 per cent) have already turned NPAs following the ban on mining activities since October 5 last year.

The cooperative banks have been the worst hit with Rs. 212 crore of Rs. 318 crore having turned NPAs.

The exposure to mining-related activities include barges (175 nos.) with a total exposure of approximately Rs. 250.66 crore, of which Rs.157.63 crore are NPAs; and trucks (4,714 nos) with a total exposure of Rs. 619 crore with NPAs of Rs.157.63 crore.

High NPAs of the consumer durables, housing and vehicle loans in the mining taluks are also turning critical owing to lack of income and loss of jobs being following the mining ban.

The worst-affected happen to be Bank of India, Canara bank and cooperative banks like Goa Urban Cooperative Bank, whose exposure was Rs. 104 crore while the NPAs have scaled to Rs. 69.63 crore.

In case of Goa State Cooperative bank, apex cooperative bank of the State, the situation is also critical with Rs. 54.11 crore of Rs. 77.50 crore having turned NPAs.

The banks affected badly are predominantly from mining taluks of Bicholim, Bardez in north Goa and Sanguem, Quepem in south Goa and also port taluk of Mormugao where the stoppage of exports of iron ore has severely dented the Mormugoa Port Trust and all the ancillary activities.

According to the recent SLBC figures, the banks had also witnessed a decline of nearly 11 per cent in deposits recently contrary to the annual growth of deposits at a robust rate of around 20 per cent in this deposit-rich State.

However, the recent depreciation of the rupee against dollar has resulted in a compensation of the deposit decline by the high growth in rupee deposits from the repatriated funds.

Original Report


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FOR MINING COMPENSATION, FIRST GOVERNMENT MUST CHECK MINING AFFECTED PEOPLES BACKGROUND. THEIR BANK BALANCE, PROPERTIES, ETC.

- JOSE ROD, GOA | 30 th August 2013 13:27

 

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