State Bank of India recovered around Rs 49,727 crore against claims worth nearly Rs 1.5 lakh crore in 309 loan accounts taken to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and similar resolution forums over nine years, according to an RTI response cited in a Moneylife report.
SBI had a difference of Rs 1,00,168 crore of claims between the amount it claimed and what it recovered through resolution plans, which is 67% of total claims for these claims.
The figures are obtained through an RTI application filed by Pune-based activist Vivek Velankar. This period covers the financial year 2017-18 to 2025-26.
SBI Recovered About One-Third Of Its Claims
According to the RTI response, SBI took 309 loan accounts to NCLT or similar resolution forums during the nine years. The total claims in these cases were Rs 1,49,895 crore.
Resolution plans resulted in recovery of Rs 49,727 crore. That is, the bank recovered about one-third of the amount it had claimed, leaving a gap of Rs 1,00,168 crore.
A haircut in an insolvency resolution process is the difference between the amount claimed by a creditor and the amount ultimately recovered under an approved resolution plan. It does not mean that the entire difference was simply written off in the same accounting sense as a separate loan write-off.
The 309 accounts covered many cases and several financial years. Therefore, the overall figure should not be interpreted as representing the recovery rate in every individual NCLT case.
SBI also reported large loan write-offs
The RTI response also has separate figures for loans that SBI technically or prudentially wrote off.
From FY2016-17 to FY2025-26, the bank technically or prudentially wrote off Rs 1,51,857 crore with large borrowers whose outstanding dues were above Rs 100 crore. SBI recovered Rs 20,838 crore, or around 14%.
These write-offs and NCLT haircuts are separate categories and should not be lumped together. A technical or prudential write-off is an accounting treatment for loans that a bank does not expect to recover, but it does not automatically mean that the borrower has been legally released from the obligation.
The data therefore show two different pictures of stressed loans at SBI. One is recoveries through formal resolution proceedings, while the other is loans classified as technically or prudentially written off.
FY2019-20 Saw Highest Write-Off
And the figures also show significant variation in SBI's loan write-offs across financial years.
The highest amount in the category of borrowers with dues above Rs 100 crore was recorded in FY2019-20. SBI technically or prudentially wrote off Rs 46,348 crore during that year and recovered Rs 4,548 crore against it, according to the RTI data.
The picture was very different in FY2025-26. SBI wrote off Rs 2,690 crore in this category and recovered Rs 2,677 crore.
The difference between these years is that the sizes of loan write-offs and recoveries can be quite different based on the financial year and the cases being resolved.
Smaller Borrower Write-Offs Also Included
The RTI response also contained information on borrowers with outstanding loans below Rs 1 crore.
SBI wrote off Rs 63,103 crore of these borrowers during FY2016-17 and FY2025-26. The bank recovered Rs 6,815 crore against those write-offs, which was approximately 11% of the amount written off.
These figures cover a different category from the large borrowers with dues above Rs 100 crore. So they should be considered separately rather than combined with the larger-borrower data.
The RTI application also sought details about the borrowers whose loans were involved in these cases.
SBI Refuses To Share Borrower Names
Velankar had asked SBI to provide the names of borrowers whose loans above Rs 100 crore had been written off, as well as the names of borrowers whose accounts went through NCLT proceedings involving haircuts.
SBI did not provide the names. The bank cited exemptions under Sections 8(1)(d), 8(1)(e) and 8(1)(j) of the Right to Information Act. These provisions cover commercial confidence, information held in a fiduciary capacity and personal information.
The Moneylife report also pointed out that SBI had provided such information to the same RTI applicant in 2020. The new response, however, declined to disclose the names under the cited exemptions.
The difference in the two responses has raised questions about transparency in the disclosure of large loan settlements and write-offs.
Thus, RTI data indicates the scale of the recovery challenge faced by SBI in recovering stressed loans. Across 309 NCLT and similar cases, the bank claimed Rs 1,49,895 crore and recovered Rs 49,727 crore, resulting in a reported haircut of Rs 1,00,168 crore. SBI also reported Rs 1,51,857 crore in technical or prudential write-offs of borrowers with dues above Rs 100 crore in the 10 years.
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