New Delhi: Banking sector regulator Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is keeping a close watch on the top 20 corporate houses in the country that owe the highest amount of loans to banks after a Hindonburg research report on the Adani Group came out.
The RBI is closely monitoring the profits of these companies as well as their performance in terms of financial terms.
According to a report, the RBI has already been regularly monitoring these companies, but in addition to that, the Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC), along with financially important institutions, is now strictly monitoring.
The RBI is monitoring corporates’ profitability, their financial performance, loans raised by companies from overseas through ECB (External Commercial Borrowing) or bonds to check if the company is in a financial crisis.
This monitoring system has been prepared so that the crisis can be detected in advance and it can be ensured that it does not have any impact on the balance sheet of banks.
According to the report, the data of companies is being monitored through their business models and loan portfolio as well as other parameters.
The RBI is also cautious because banks have come out of it after a long struggle with the NPA crisis. NpAs of commercial banks have come down from 11.2 per cent in March 2018 to 5.8 per cent in March 2022.
After the Hindenburg report came out, when questions were being raised about the loan given to the Adani Group, the regulator issued a statement saying that India’s banking sector is stable and flexible.
As a regulator, the RBI maintains a watch to maintain financial stability. The RBI had said that in order to monitor loans above Rs 5 crore, the RBI has a Central Repository of Information of Large Credit Database System through which large loans are monitored.