India's top 10 wilful defaulters collectively owe Rs 40,635 crore to banks as of March 31, 2025, the government informed Parliament on Monday. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said ABG Shipyard tops the list with bank dues amounting to Rs 6,695 crore.
It is followed by Gitanjali Gems with Rs 6,236 crore outstanding and Beta Napthol with Rs 5,268 crore in dues. Businessman Rakeshkumar Kuldipsingh Wadhawan also features on the list with Rs 4,291 crore owed to banks.
Other major wilful defaulters include the erstwhile directors of Bhushan Power & Steel with Rs 3,810 crore in outstanding loans. The list also includes Raza Textiles (Rs 3,260 crore), Gilt Pack (Rs 3,080 crore), Rank Industries (Rs 2,655 crore) and Housing Development and Infrastructure with Rs 2,540 crore in dues to banks.
She further said, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), vide Master Directions on Treatment of wilful defaulters and large defaulters, has advised lenders to submit the list of wilful defaulters to all Credit Information Companies (CICs) on a monthly basis, and CICs are required to display the same on their respective websites.
As per inputs received from RBI, she said, a bank may undertake compromise settlements in respect of accounts categorized as wilful defaulters without prejudice to the criminal proceeding underway against such borrowers.
The primary regulatory objective behind allowing wilful defaulters to enter into compromise settlement is to enable multiple avenues to lenders to recover the money in default without much delay, she said.
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Apart from the time value loss, inordinate delays result in asset value deterioration which hampers ultimate recoveries, she said, adding, compromise settlement is recognised as a valid resolution mechanism under RBI's (Commercial Banks – Resolution of Stressed Assets) Directions, 2025.
Further, she said, the imperatives for lenders are no different when it comes to recovery from borrowers classified as wilful defaulter.
Continuing such exposures on the balance sheets of the lenders without resolution due to legal proceedings locks lenders' funds in an unproductive asset, which is not a desirable position, she said.
Further, continuation of criminal proceedings underway or to be initiated against the borrowers classified as wilful defaulter ensures that perpetrators of any malafide action do not go scot-free.
Further, she said, compromise settlement is not available to borrowers as a matter of right; rather it is a discretion to be exercised by the lenders based on their commercial judgement.
Replying to another question, Sitharaman said, the digital payment transactions have grown exponentially in the last few years due to coordinated efforts of the government, RBI and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
Retail digital payment has increased from Rs 457.44 lakh crore in FY22 to Rs 849.12 lakh crore in FY25, she said.
Of the total retail digital payment transactions, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) accounted for 81 per cent in 2024-25 and has emerged as the largest real-time retail payment system in the world, she said.
"The specific data on demographic or geographic segments-wise contribution in digital payments is not maintained. The growth in retail digital payments, including UPI, is driven by several factors such as smartphone penetration, Aadhaar-enabled authentication, e-KYC, wider financial inclusion and expansion of merchant acceptance infrastructure across both urban and rural areas," she said.
The digital public infrastructure has supported inter-operability and simplified on-boarding processes, contributing to wider adoption across user groups, she said.
The initiatives such as the Incentive Scheme for Promotion of Digital Payments, Payment Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), etc. have also facilitated the continued expansion of digital payments, she said.
To address the digital financial frauds, she said, various initiatives have been taken up by the Government, RBI and NPCI.
These include device binding between the customer's mobile number and device, two-factor authentication through PIN, daily transaction limits and restrictions on certain use cases, she said.
NPCI provides an AI/ML based fraud-monitoring solution to all banks for generating alerts and declining suspicious transactions, she said, adding, RBI and banks have also been conducting awareness campaigns through short SMS, radio campaigns and other publicity material for prevention of cyber-crime.
(With Input From PTI)
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