RBI deadline ends on finalising NPAs' resolution
Mumbai, Aug 27 : A major deadline in the process of resolving the country's most pressing corporate and banking problem of NPAs, or bad loans, is ending on Monday with the RBI having set a six-month time frame for finalising resolution plans for around 70 large stressed accounts worth over Rs 3.8 lakh crore.
In a circular on restructuring bad loans issued in February, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had asked banks to identify projects with even a day's default as stressed assets and conclude resolution proceedings in 180 days.
The RBI circular had directed banks to take loan accounts of Rs 2,000 crore and above, which remain unresolved for over 180 days starting from March 1, 2018, to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
Domestic rating agency Icra has said in a recent report that these 70 large non-performing asset (NPA) accounts are mostly from the power, telecom and construction sectors.
According to banking sources, banks have been working overtime to finalise the resolution plans for these accounts so as to avoid going for bankruptcy proceedings in the NCLT.
The country's largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), is looking at recovering more than Rs 40,000 crore of its stressed assets in the current fiscal, an official said on Saturday.
State-run State Bank Of India (SBI) Deputy Managing Director (Stressed Assets Resolution Group) Pallav Mohapatra said, the SBI expects to make a recovery of more than Rs 40,000 crore in the current financial year, mostly through the IBC, while a smaller percentage would be recovered from other sources like sale of assets and one time settlement.
Bankers are hoping that the RBI will take a lenient view and not refer all the NPA accounts to NCLT immediately after Monday's deadline expiry as the resolution process is already underway in some cases.
The power sector accounts for the major chunk of NPAs and according to RBI, the total outstanding loans of scheduled commercial banks to the sector, including renewable energy, stood at Rs 5.65 lakh crore as on March 2018.
A Parliamentary panel report has revealed that there are as many as 34 stressed electricity projects with a total capacity of over 40,000 MW.
Power producers had petitioned the government that RBI norms on resolving the NPAs issue were too rigid in view of the serious problems being faced by the industry in the way of coal shortage and the huge bill outstandings due from state distribution companies.
The Power Ministry had urged the RBI to extend the deadline by six months, but the central bank has rejected the extension request.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy in its report earlier this month noted that the new RBI guidelines on NPAs will only deepen the crisis of the electricity sector.
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Indian startup's 'Drishti' satellite launched aboard SpaceX rocket
New Delhi (PTI): Bengaluru-based space start-up GalaxEye's Mission Drishti satellite was launched on Sunday aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from California.
Mission Drishti is the world's first OptoSAR satellite, integrating electro-optical (EO) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors into a single operational platform, according to the company.
While EO sensors capture high-resolution images during sunlight and clear skies, SAR sensors provide all-weather and all-time images, using radar pulses.
In a statement, Suyash Singh, founder and CEO of GalaxEye, said, "With the satellite (Mission Drishti) now successfully in orbit, our immediate focus is on completing its commissioning. As we move through this phase, we are already witnessing strong global interest in the differentiated datasets enabled by our OptoSAR payload."
The satellite will help address long-standing limitations of conventional systems and enable more reliable and consistent data acquisition across diverse environmental conditions, the company said.
As a dual-use Earth observation satellite, the mission will support use cases across defence, agriculture, disaster management, maritime monitoring, and infrastructure planning.
The satellite is also expected to complement India's broader initiatives, including the 29 active Earth Observation satellites outlined in ISRO's recent annual report.
The launch came after five years of indigenous research and development, and extensive environmental testing and performance validation of the Mission Drishti.
In a statement, Lt Gen AK Bhatt (Retd), director general of Indian Space Association (ISpA), said, "GalaxEye has achieved what only a few global players have, which is seamlessly combining optical and SAR capabilities on a single platform to enable persistent, all-weather intelligence."
What stands out is not just the technology, but its broader impact on how downstream applications will increasingly define value in the space economy, particularly in Earth observation, where timely, decision-grade insights are critical," he added.
ISpA is the premier industry association of space and satellite companies in the country.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh also took note of the Mission Drishti launch, saying the development marked a significant milestone in India's space journey.
In a post on X, the minister said, "The successful launch of the world's first OptoSAR satellite, and the largest privately-built satellite in the country, reflects the immense potential of our young innovators driving nation-building."
GalaxEye aims to scale up Mission Drishti to a constellation of 10 satellites by 2030, developing a robust and sovereign Earth observation infrastructure for India.
