Bad loans: RBI to take up more cases, says Jaitley

The process of resolution of bad loans will start shortly, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday in the Lok Sabha as it passed a bill which gives RBI the power to direct banking companies to resolve the problem of stressed assets.

Replying to a debate on the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2017, Jaitley said the Reserve Bank has already identified top 12 loan defaulters and more cases will be taken up by them for resolution.

"No one can claim the right of equality in not paying banks back. RBI has taken up some difficult cases... I am sure they will take up more," Jaitley said.

The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2017, seeks to amend the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and replace the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017, which was promulgated in May this year. The bill was later passed by the Lok Sabha by a voice vote.

Winding up the debate on the bill, Jaitley said some laws were outdated and were acting as "impediment" instead of "expediting resolution".

"We will shortly see the process of resolution coming... Any form of resolution is possible... We need to save the companies, the jobs and we need liquid companies to pay the banks," the finance minister said.