Launching a scathing attack on the opposition Congress, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the bad loans crisis during the UPA tenure stifled the credit requirements and dreams of crores of aspirational Indians who wanted to establish start-ups and expand small businesses.
In a long thread of posts on her X timeline, she targeted the Congress and its allies, alleging that the UPA government chose to favour dynasts and cronies while leaving a large chunk of Indians in the lurch.
“When the Modi government took charge, these cronies fled, fearing prosecution,” she said in a four-part post on the social media platform.
The Minister said those who take credit for the nationalization of banks kept the nation’s poor and middle class unbanked for decades while their leaders and allies climbed the ladders of corruption.
She said that it was her government that brought in comprehensive and long-term reforms.
“Our reforms addressed credit discipline, recognition and resolution of stress, responsible lending and improved governance.”
The Minister said that her government replaced political interference in banks with professional integrity and independence.
“Our government, in 2015, issued a framework for the timely detection and investigation relating to large value bank frauds,” she said.
“Despite claiming to be experts in finance and economy, it’s a pity that opposition leaders are still unable to distinguish between write-offs and waivers. After the ‘write-offs’ as per RBI’s guidelines, banks actively pursue the recovery of bad loans,” the minister added.
“And, there has been no “waiver” of loans for any industrialist. Between 2014 and 2023, banks recovered more than Rs 10 lakh crores from bad loans.”
She put out figures that the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has investigated around 1,105 bank fraud cases, which resulted in the attachment of proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 64,920 crore.
“Under the UPA, obtaining loans from banks often depended on powerful connections rather than a solid business proposition. Banks were forced to neglect proper due diligence and risk assessment before sanctioning these loans. This led to a massive increase in Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) and institutionalised grafts,” the minister said.
“Many banks hid and avoided reporting their bad loans by ‘evergreening’ or restructuring them,” she added.
“Against that backdrop of high bad loans and the health of banks in disarray, banks had then become reluctant to lend to new borrowers, especially MSMEs.”
Further praising the Narendra Modi-led NDA government, she said, “From having a ‘Twin Balance Sheet Problem’, we now have a ‘Twin Balance Sheet Advantage’.”