Apart from these PSBs, even the private-sector banks have reported healthy growth in recoveries in Q1. For instance, Axis Bank’s recoveries and upgradations more than doubled to Rs 306 crore in Q1 FY18 and ICICI Bank’s recoveries upgradations more than tripled to Rs 2,775 crore in the June quarter. Separate numbers for upgradations and recoveries were not available for these private banks.

Axis Bank chief financial officer Jairam Sridharan told analysts after its June quarter results that some part of the watchlist will survive through this financial year or some parts of the watchlist, which have already slipped, will get recovered and upgraded through next year. ICICI Bank’s recoveries and upgradations were boosted after a part of a cement account (Jaypee) was upgraded due to the transfer of a part of the debt to a AAA rated company (UltraTech). ICICI Bank executive director NS Kannan also told analysts that the bank will employ all the tools and all the available options to maximise recovery. “That is the way we will proceed, and not just in this exposure but across the exposures in the drilldown list,” he added.

Meanwhile, Punjab National Bank’s (PNB) recoveries dropped 62% y-o-y to Rs 1,856 crore in the June quarter. MD & CEO Sunil Mehta told reporters at an analysts’ conference that the bank has set up war rooms which typically deals in bad loans and decide on the recovery mechanism like SARFAESI, taking the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) route and file first information reports (FIR) in cases of frauds.