India's top 50 loan defaulters: Mehul Choksi leads the pack
India's top 50 loan defaulters owe a whopping Rs. 87,295 crore to banks and financial institutions, with fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi's Gitanjali Gems topping the list as the biggest wilful defaulter. According to a written reply by Bhagwat Karad, Minister of State for Finance, to the Rajya Sabha, the top 10 defaulters alone owe Rs. 40,825 crore to scheduled commercial banks (SCBs).
Banks wrote off Rs. 10.5 lakh crore in 5 years
Geetanjali Diamonds is followed by Era Infra Engineering Limited, REI Agro Limited, ABG Shipyard Limited, and Concast Steel and Power Limited. Choksi's venture owes Rs. 8,738 crore to banks. Era Infra and REI Agro owe Rs. 5,750 crore and Rs. 5,148 crore, respectively. In the past five financial years, SCBs have written off an aggregate of Rs. 10,57,326 crore, Karad submitted.
Over 66,000 frauds were reported in 2022-23
In 2022-23, 66,069 frauds were reported, resulting in a loss of Rs. 85.25 crore, Karad said in another reply. The previous year saw 65,893 frauds with financial implications of Rs. 115.36 crore. The JanSamarth Portal, launched to streamline loans under select government schemes, has received 23,276 grievances so far. Of these, 21,250 complaints have been resolved in a timely manner, said Karad.
