PSU Banks Raise A Record Rs 58,700 Crore From Markets In FY'21

Notwithstanding economic disruptions caused by the pandemic, public sector banks (PSBs) have managed to raise a record Rs 58,700 crore from markets in FY2020-21 through a mix of debt and equity to enhance capital base.

This included Rs 4,500 crore raised by Mumbai-based Bank of Baroda from qualified institutional placement (QIP). Punjab National Bank mobilised Rs 3,788 crore through share sale on private placement basis during the financial year ended March 31, 2021. At the same time, Bengaluru-based Canara Bank raised Rs 2,000 crore from QIP, as per data collated from regulatory filings.

Series of successful QIP reflect confidence of both domestic and global investors in PSBs and their potential, said a senior official of a public sector bank. In addition, 12 PSBs raised funds from Tier I and Tier II bonds taking the total fund mobilisation to Rs 58,697 crore, highest amount garnered in any financial year.

Various reforms undertaken by the government including recognition, resolution and recapitalisation resulted in progressive decline in non-performing assets (NPAs) and subsequent rise in profit.

NPAs of PSBs had declined to Rs 7,39,541 crore as on March 31, 2019, Rs 6,78,317 crore on March 31, 2020 and further to Rs 6,16,616 crore as on March 31, 2021 (provisional data). Provision Coverage Ratio (PCR) at the same time increased sequentially to a high of 84 per cent. As a result, PSBs in aggregate recorded a profit of Rs 31,816 crore, highest in five years, despite 7.3 per cent contraction in economy in 2020-21 due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The primary reason for PSBs to post such a Rs 57,832-crore turnaround - from a loss of Rs 26,015 crore in 2019-20 to a combined profit of Rs 31,816 crore - was the end of their legacy bad loan problem. At the same time, comprehensive steps were taken to control and to effect recovery in NPAs, which enabled PSBs to recover Rs 5,01,479 crore over the last six financial years.

Overall credit growth of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) has remained positive for 2020-21 despite contraction in GDP (-7.3 per cent) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As per the RBI data, gross Loans and Advances of SCBs increased from Rs 109.19 lakh crore as of March 31, 2020 to Rs 113.99 lakh crore as of March 31, 2021.

Further as per RBI data of loans to agriculture and allied activities, micro, small and medium enterprises, housing and vehicles have witnessed a year-on-year growth of 12.3 per cent, 8.5 per cent, 9.1 per cent and 9.5 per cent respectively during the year. PTI