Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday, 20 December, that banks have recovered a total of Rs 13,109.17 crore from asset sale of fugitives like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.
Sitharaman made the statement in response to a discussion on the second batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants which authorises the government to spend an additional Rs 3.73 lakh crore during the current fiscal year.
The extra spending includes infusion of over Rs 62,000 crore into the company that holds residual assets and liabilities of Air India, Rs 58,430 crore by way of additional fertiliser subsidy, Rs 53,123 crore towards payment of pending export incentives and Rs 22,039 crore to the Rural Development Ministry for transfer to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Fund.
Speaking on the banks' recovery, Sitharaman said that a total of Rs 13,109.17 crore had been recovered from the asset sales of the willful defaulters as of July 2021, as per the information provided by the Enforcement Directorate.
She said that the information as provided by the Enforcement Directorate and a total of Rs 792 crore were recovered from the sale of assets belonging to Vijay Mallya and others on July 16, 2021.
"Public sector banks together have effected a recovery of about Rs 5.49 lakh crore over the last seven financial years. So, these people who are defaulters, who have fled the country, we have got their money back and put it to the public sector banks, and therefore the banks are safer today," she said.
She added that the depositors' money is safer in public sector banks.
(With inputs from PTI)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)