Beyond PNB scam: Wilful defaulters owe more than Rs 1 lakh crore to banks

Wilful defaulters in India owe more than Rs 1.1 lakh crore to banks as on September 30, 2017. According to the RBI, ‘wilful defaulters’ are defaulters who are unwilling to pay despite the borrowers’ paying capacity.

As per the analysis by TOI, more than 9,000 such accounts have banks file lawsuits against for recovery of money.

Together, dues are over Rs 26,000 crore outstanding to the banks.

As per the data, Jatin Mehta-promoted Winsome Diamonds & Jewellery Ltd and Forever Precious Jewellery & Diamonds Ltd owed Rs 5,500 crore to various banks.

Next is Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines, which owes over Rs 3,000 crore. Kolkata-based REI Agro, a company owned by Sandip Jhunjhunwala is the third company owes Rs 2,730 crore. The company was once listed in London and Singapore stock exchanges and was also a co-sponsor of an IPL team.

Companies owned by Prabodh Kumar Tewari and his family members are next in line - Mahuaa Media, Pearl Studio Pvt. Ltd, Century Communication and Pixion Media Pvt Ltd with an amount of Rs 2,416 crore.

According to the banks, the other companies with dues more than Rs 2,000 crore and are unwilling to pay despite having the sources include media baron T Venkatram Reddy’s Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, Reid & Taylor (India) Limited & S Kumars Nationwide Limited, both promoted by Nitin Kasliwal and Zoom Developers Pvt Ltd promoted by Vijay Choudhary.

The total of more than 50 companies each with over Rs 250 crore of wilful default amounts to Rs 48,000 crore.

The data, bank-wise indicates nationalised banks form about 60% of this money with SBI and its associates accounting for one-fourth of the total while private sector banks also declaring over Rs 14,000 crore as wilful defaults.