Resolution soon on 7-8 stressed power assets

State Bank of India managing director Arijit Basu said on Friday that about 7-8 power sector projects worth Rs 17,000 crore are expected to be resolved soon as lenders are nearing consensus on these.

There are about 34 stressed power projects and the combined value of their outstanding loans is about Rs 1.74 lakh crore.

"We have looked at 13-14 accounts which would entail changes in management, investment etc. Out of these, 7-8 accounts we are looking at very closely, to get some consensus among the banks," Basu said on the sidelines of an event here.

"There are investors who have expressed interest and we are in very advanced stage as far as these accounts are concerned. Some of these we should be able to conclude very soon," he said.

When asked how many cases are being referred to NCLT by the end of the August 27 deadline, he said: "We don't see major spurt in accounts being referred to National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). We have been bringing out the stress in the system...we have worked at resolution. We have not waited for deadline."

Banks have already referred many cases to NCLT, he said.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in a circular in February, mandated banks to identify projects with even a day’s default as stressed asset and conclude the resolution proceedings in 180 days. The circular came into effect on March 1 and the 180-day deadline concludes on August 27.

On provisions against non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans, Basu said that some guidance has been given and the bank has already provided for them significantly in the first quarter and will continue to provide as per the norms.

"As far as recoveries are concerned this particular financial year has been significantly better than what we were doing in 2017-18. It is almost 80-90% more than what we were doing in 2017-18," he said.

Asked about talks of public sector banks being given more autonomy, Basu said SBI is a well governed bank with a very strong board.

"The board has not only strong internal directors but strong external directors. So all decisions are board driven. Corporate governance in SBI is strong and regulator is also very clear on how bank should be regulated," he said.