Banks waive Rs 509cr interest in K'taka

Commercial banks, RRBs and cooperative banks have waived interest overdue to the tune of Rs 719.71 crore in Karnataka as on July 1, 2006. The interest was waived as announced under the Prime Minister's package of relief measures for debt-stressed farmers in six districts of Karnataka.

Subsequently, the banks have submitted interest claims to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) seeking the reimbursement of the interest waived, according to Syndicate Bank CMD CP Swarnkar.

Addressing the 102nd quarterly meeting of the State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) here today, he said Nabard has already released the Centre's share of Rs 96.11 crore to RRBs and cooperative banks. Regarding the commercial banks, the RBI has released the amount to some banks like State Bank of Hyderabad, Indian Bank and ICICI Bank. However, Karnataka is yet to release its share to RBI as per the scheme announced by the Centre.