The finance ministry has directed United Bank of India to recover bad loans worth at least Rs 1 crore every day from each of its 36 circles until the end of this month. The directive has been made with the intention of bringing down the bank’s NPAs to the level of Rs 7000 crore at the end of the current financial year. The bank had reported a nearly three-fold increase in NPAs to Rs 8,546 crore for the quarter to December, resulting in an unprecedented quarterly loss of Rs 1,238 crore. The bank has also been asked to undertake daily reviews of its debt collection efforts. Finance minister P Chidambaram had earlier revealed that the bank has been able to reduce its NPAs by Rs 1200 crore. It is unlikely now that the bank’s board will be superceded. The government, which owns 88% of United Bank, has provided it Rs 700 crore as capital in the current fiscal.
