New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday alleged that non-performing assets (NPAs) have risen by 365 percent under the Modi government which was "squandering people's money for crony capitalists" by waiving their loans. The opposition party also questioned why "unbridled powers" were being given to PSU banks to "sell off assets at throwaway prices" and sought to know what was the government's plan to bring back 38 wilful defaulters have fled the country after swindling banks.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the NDA government was "India's biggest NPA" and it was destroying small and medium businesses. "In the last 5 years, NPA: Write offs: Rs 10,09,510 Crore. Recovery: Rs 1,32,000 Crore. To top that NPAs have skyrocketed by a massive 365 percent under BJP regime. "The Government is destroying small and medium businesses and squandering people's money for crony capitalists. NDA is India's biggest NPA!," Kharge said in a tweet.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate claimed that the BJP does not contest elections on issues or its report card but on the face of the prime minister, and said it must now answer questions on the rise in NPAs and loans being written off. "Every election is being contested on the personal background of the prime minister. But, who will answer as to why big haircuts are being given by banks," she told reporters at a press conference, referring to banks accepting less mony than is due to them.
The Congress leader said 61 percent of the fiscal deficit can be funded by this write-off alone. But the government will never discuss this as they do not understand the economy, she alleged. "The benefit is to be given only to a few select industrialists and nothing else and that is why no answers are coming," she said. She said that in the last five years alone, the government has written off Rs 10 lakh crore and only 13 percent of that amount has been recovered, asking why are such huge amounts of debt written off and why is only 13 percent of that debt recovered.