PSU banks may need more than budgeted capital infusion: Mundra

New Delhi: RBI Deputy Governor S S Mundra has said public sector banks may require more than the budgeted Rs 10,000 crore capital infusion from the government in the current fiscal on account of higher provisioning for bad loans and haircut on stressed assets.

"I think the finance minister has always been mentioning that if there is a need we will find resources," he said on the sidelines of an event organised by Assocham.

The process of NPA resolution and capitalisation are closely associated, Mundra said, adding that, it appears banks may need additional capitalisation post the exercise.

Asked about the quantum of haircut to be taken by banks for resolution of stressed assets, Mundra said: "There is no question of maximum or minimum haircut. Haircuts have to be taken depending on need and requirement (for resolution)."

Various solutions may emerge as part of insolvency process, he said.

It could be merger, restructuring and haircut, or provisioning may be required depending on the structure which is finally adopted under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), he said.

Mundra also said the balancesheet cleaning exercise could lead to increase in provision.

"Quite possible. To believe that all this (cleaning) can happen without additional provisioning would be too optimistic. I would strongly say we should be realistic rather than pessimistic or optimistic," he said.

Earlier this week, the RBI identified 12 stressed accounts each having more than Rs 5,000 crore of outstanding loans and accounting for 25 percent of total NPAs for immediate referral for resolution under the bankruptcy law.

When asked about the names of the 12 accounts, he said, Internal Advisory Committee (IAC), comprising a majority of its independent board members, will come out with the list at an appropriate time.

The banking sector is saddled with non-performing assets (NPAs) of over Rs 8 lakh crore, of which Rs 6 lakh crore is with public sector banks (PSBs).

On consolidation, Mundra said, it is purely a commercial decision and once the decision is taken it will reach the regulator for approval.

"I think these are business decisions which are to be taken by respective bank managements, owners. At right point of time where it needs review by the regulator, it will come. RBI comes into the picture much later," he said.

It is to be noted that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced capital infusion of Rs 10,000 crore for the current fiscal in line with the Indradhanush scheme.

As per the scheme, public sector banks need to raise Rs 1.10 lakh crore from markets, including follow-on public offer, to meet Basel III requirements, which kick in from March 2019.

This will be over the Rs 70,000 crore that banks will get as capital support from the government. Of this, the government has already infused Rs 50,000 crore in the past two fiscals and the remaining will be pumped in by the end of 2018-19.

Additional allocation will be provided as may be required, Jaitley had said.