SBI’s `1,935-crore loans up for ARC bids

State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday put on sale loans worth 1,935.62 crore to 24 different entities. It has sought bids for these from asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) on cash basis or a mix of cash and security receipts (SRs), according to a sale document. Bidding will be held on the bank’s e-auction platform.

Interested parties must submit an expression of interest (EoI) before February 20. The due-diligence exercise will be completed by March 6 and the process of e-bidding will be held on March 7. “The sale is on ‘as is where is basis’ and, therefore, site visits are not envisaged,” SBI said in the notice.

The largest of these accounts is that of Kolkata-based MSP Metallics, with outstanding loans worth `568.38 crore. Next in line are Bhuvee Stenovate, also from Kolkata, (`315.7 crore) and Mumbai-based Poineer Gas Power (`180.73 crore).

This is not the first time SBI has tried to sell its exposure to MSP Metallics. The company’s name also featured in a list of 12 accounts the bank put up for sale on December 13, 2017.

On January 12, the bank had put up non-performing assets (NPAs) worth `1,833.73 crore, including education loans worth `382 crore, for sale. Prior to that, on December 15, it had put on the block the `1,300-crore NPA of Asian Colour Coated Ispat, named in the RBI’s second list of companies.

After the RBI sent its second list of 28 large NPA accounts to banks, they have resorted to means such as sales to ARCs to hasten resolution in mid-sized accounts.

SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar has said that the bank does not approve of lenders selling to ARCs their exposures to accounts that are already undergoing the corporate insolvency resolution process.

State Bank of India