In the March 2018 quarter, the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of Indian banks surged past Rs 10 trillion. This surprised many observers, if not the bankers, as the true extent of bad debt was not evident before the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) arm-twisted lenders to disclose whatever was hidden under the carpet. There are many economic reasons for this NPA pile-up, but the numbers ballooned after the central bank’s February 12 circular. The circular said if a loan is not serviced for 90 days, it is in default and recovery proceedings can be started against it.
Not surprisingly, the gross