Social media users are sharing a headline from Navbharat Times that claims, “Businessmen like Ambani are unable to repay their loans, so banks have forgiven ₹12 lakh crore rupees. SBI leads.” This headline is being shared with the implication that while the Modi government taxes common citizens, it forgives loans for big businessmen.
Eleven Must posted on X, ‘pay taxes on time.’
Anahat and Subharansh also shared these claims.
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We began our fact-checking process by reviewing a report from Navbharat Times published on December 16, 2024. The article claimed, “Businessmen like Anil Ambani, Jindal, and Jayprakash are unable to repay their loans, which has been steadily increasing the burden on banks. Over the past 10 years, banks have waived loans totaling ₹12 lakh crore. In the last 5 years, more than half of these forgiven loans have been by government-owned banks, with the State Bank of India (SBI) leading the way.”
The report further referenced the Times of India, stating that between fiscal years 2015 and 2024, banks had waived off a total of ₹12.3 lakh crore in loans. The government revealed that 53% of this, or ₹6.5 lakh crore, was forgiven by public sector banks between FY 2020 and FY 2024.
Additionally, we examined the Times of India report which noted that Indian commercial banks had written off ₹12.3 lakh crore in loans between the 2014-15 and 2023-24 financial years, according to government data provided in Parliament. Public sector banks accounted for ₹6.5 lakh crore of these write-offs in the past five years. The report also mentioned that write-offs peaked at ₹2.4 lakh crore in FY 2019 following an asset quality review and dropped to ₹1.7 lakh crore in FY 2024, representing 1% of the total outstanding bank credit. Public sector banks’ share of new loans was 51%, down from 54% in FY 2023.
As of September 30, 2024, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) for public sector banks stood at ₹3,16,331 crore (3.01% of outstanding loans), and ₹1,34,339 crore (1.86% of outstanding loans) for private sector banks. The State Bank of India wrote off ₹2 lakh crore during this 10-year period, while Punjab National Bank wrote off ₹94,702 crore. Public sector banks had written off ₹42,000 crore in the first half of the current fiscal year.
Thus, the Times of India report clearly clarified that the loans were written off, not forgiven or waived, contrary to what the Navbharat Times article suggested.
• Waive off: The borrower is no longer required to repay the outstanding loan amount. The loan is entirely cancelled, and the borrower is relieved from any further liability. The lender will not take legal action to recover the loan, essentially terminating the debt.
• Write off: The lender removes the loan from its books to clean up the balance sheet, but this does not mean the loan recovery ends. The lender may still pursue legal means to recover the outstanding amount. The loan is not closed, and the recovery process may continue.
Furthermore, a report in The Hindu on December 5, 2023, stated that banks had written off ₹10.57 lakh crore in loans during the last five financial years. Of this amount, ₹5.52 lakh crore was related to loans from large industries. According to RBI data, scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) wrote off a total of ₹10.57 lakh crore during this period. The banks also recovered ₹7.15 lakh crore of non-performing assets (NPAs) during the same five-year period.
Hence the distinction between “waive off” and “write off” is significant, and the Navbharat Times report used “waived off” when the correct term should have been “written off.” We have previously debunked similar claims where individuals misrepresented “written off” as “waived off” or “forgiven.
| Claim | Businessmen like Ambani are unable to repay their loans, so banks have forgiven 12 lakh crore rupees |
| Claimed by | NBT and social media users |
| Conclusion | Banks have written off ₹12.3 lakh crore in loans between the fiscal years 2014-15 and 2023-24, with public sector banks accounting for ₹6.5 lakh crore of this total in the last five years. Contrary to claims made in a Navbharat Times report, which suggested that loans were “waived off” for businessmen like Anil Ambani, Jindal, and Jayprakash, the correct term is “written off. |
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