Management and Control of Non Performing Assets (NPA) in Indian Public Sector Banks

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India’s legal system has traditionally been friendly towards borrowers and famously inefficient and slow in the recovery of loans and interest. As a result, once a bank provides a loan or advance to a borrower, it has very little bargaining power in terms of calling the loan back or getting its hands on assets that formally securitize that particular loan or advance. In India, the whole banking sector and particularly the public sector banks till recently suffered from considerable amount of non-performing assets (NPAs). The paper studies the effectiveness of Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, 2002 in controlling and solving the problem of non-performing assets of public sector banks. The study found that NPAs in public sector banks have been declining continuously from Rs. 56,156.43 crores (10.67% of Gross Advances) in 2001-2002 to Rs. 55,171.48 crores (2.31% of Gross Advances) in 2009-2010 since the implementation of the Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act. There is a decline of 80.10% in non performing assets in public sector banks as a whole during the period of study. The study revealed that the enactment of SARFAESI Act was highly successful and effective in reducing and controlling the amount of non- performing assets of public sector banks. The study also recommends Indian public sector banks should continue to remain focused in their recovery efforts of non-performing assets, in order to maintain the positive and effective trend of improving the quality of their assets.