ARCs bought bad loans worth Rs 35k cr in FY17; ICICI Bank, Axis Bank top sellers

Amid a bad loans crisis, around Rs 30,000-35,000 crore worth of non-performing assets (NPAs) were sold to asset reconstruction companies (ARC) in the financial year gone by, sources close to the developments told CNBC-TV18. The sales took place till the last day of FY17, with the bulk happening last month.

ICICI Bank and Axis Bank were among the top sellers, with each moving out Rs 5,000-6,000 crore of loans each. They were followed by IDFC Bank at Rs 4,000 crore, South Indian Bank Rs 2,000 crore, HDFC Bank selling under Rs 900 crore and DBS Rs 1,400 crore.

Edelweiss ARC bought almost two-thirds of the NPAs, which were worth Rs 22,000 crore. JM Financial ARC and Phoenix ARC bought Rs 4,800 crore and Rs 4,200 crore respectively.

The ARCs issued Rs 15,000 crore worth of security receipts in FY17. Till date, ARCs have issued security receipts of Rs 82,000-85,000 crore.