ICICI Bank puts NPAs worth Rs 1000 cr on sale

The country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank is taking steps to curb the rising menace of bad loans. CNBC-TV18 has learnt from sources that the bank has put non-performing assets worth over Rs 1,000 crore on the block to recover dues.Its chief executive officer, Chanda Kochhar, wants to move fast to resolve the bad loan pile up issue, which jumped to a two-year high in the March quarter. The bank’s gross bad-loan ratio stood at 3.4 percent of the total as of December 31, the highest level since September 2012, according to exchange filings. The figure doesn’t include restructured debt, which rose 40 percent to Rs 12,000 crore last year. ICICI Bank's recently formed debt-recovery group, headed by KM Jayarao, has put two large accounts on the block after losing hopes of recovery. Sources tell CNBC-TV18 that the bank is looking to sell Falcon Tyres andTulip Telecom accounts to Asset Reconstruction Companies or ARCs. ICICI Bank has an exposure of Rs 700 crores to Delhi-based enterprise data service provider Tulip Telecom and Rs 300 crores to Falcon Tyres. The bank has showcased these accounts to the country's top ARCs. CNBC-TV18 learns from sources that Arcil, Edelweiss ARC, JM Financial ARC, International ARC and Phoenix ARC have been approached to submit their bids. ICICI Bank is one of the first banks to sell the Tulip Telecom account, which has ran into multiple troubles after the company defaulted on USD140 million FCCB redemption. Tulip Telecom also defaulted on a Rs 125 crore NCD payment to its holders. A 13-member consortium headed by ICICI Bank has an exposure of over Rs 3,000 crore to Tulip Telecom. It went for a corporate debt restructuring thereafter, which failed too. Tulip Telecom's CMD HS Bedi was arrested for Rs 32 crore service tax evasion in 2014. The company was also alleged to be the centre of a scam by Axis Bank. Golf Technologies alleged collusion between Axis Bank top management and Tulip Telecom, following which Delhi magistrate Court issued notice to Axis Bank for fraudulent transfer of Rs 20 crore from Golf Tech’s term loan account into Tulip Telecom and then showing it as a recovery.When contacted, an Axis Bank spokesperson said: "A notice under The Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act has been issued against the borrower for having defaulted in meeting its repayment obligations and the bank is taking suitable action in this regard. The matter as reported is also being reviewed by our legal team. The bank follows robust systems and processes and believes in maintaining high standards in customer delivery, which are fully compliant with existing regulations."Kolkata based Pawan Kumar Ruia lost control of Falcon Tyres, which it had acquired through an offshore deal ten years back, earlier in January this year. Falcon Tyre shares were pledged with ICICI bank as part of the re-financing deal. ICICI Bank invoked 29.5 percent of the 30.5 percent shares that the Ruia group’s Mauritius-based Dim Rim and Wheel had pledged with the lender, causing the Ruias to lose ownership. Both these accounts have now been put on the block by the lender. ICICI Bank did not respond to CNBC-TV18's query.