Public sector banks (PSBs) wrote off bad loans worth Rs 5.19 lakh crore in the last five financial years, with State Bank of India (SBI) topping the list.

The recovery from written off accounts stood at Rs 1.83 lakh crore during this period, translating to 35.24% of the value. SBI, the country’s largest lender, reported the highest recovery amount, data provided by the government in Lok Sabha showed.

The write-offs for the 12 state-run banks stood at Rs 115,537 crore in FY21-22; Rs 127,237 crore in FY22-23; Rs 114,622 crore in FY23-24; Rs 91,261 crore in FY24-25; and Rs 70,528 crore in FY25-26. 

This took the total write-off from non-performing assets (NPAs) to Rs 519,185 crore between FY21-22 and FY25-26, with the trend declining annually after peaking in FY23. During the same period, the state-run banks recovered Rs 182,937 crore from written off accounts. 

A year-wise data showed recoveries from written off loans standing at Rs 24,739 crore in FY21-22; Rs 35,377 crore in FY22-23; Rs 37,369 crore in FY23-24; Rs 42,563 crore in FY24-25; and Rs 42,889 crore in FY25-26.

Union minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply in Lok Sabha that recoveries made during a financial year may pertain to loans written off during that year as well as previous years. He also clarified that the data provided for FY26 is provisional.

Write-off table per bank

The top five lenders in the table accounted for 70.99% of the total public sector banks’ loan write-offs in the past five financial years, with a combined pullout of Rs 368,559 crore.

SBI, Union Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank accounted for 72.52% of the total recovery made by the public sector banks from written off accounts during this period. The recovery of Rs 132,670 crore by these five banks in the last five financial years amounted to 36% of the value of loans they wrote off. 

State Bank of India 

SBI has put Rs 98,000 crore on the write-off table in the past five financial years while recovering Rs 39,869 crore, government data showed. This is 40.68% recovery of the loan write-off value.

Write-offs vs. Recoveries

Year-wise, this is how the data ran: 

FY22 – Rs 19,666 crore vs. Rs 7,782 crore (recovery 39.57% of write-off amount);

FY23 - Rs 24,061 crore vs. Rs 7,097 crore (29.50%);

FY24 - Rs 16,161 crore vs. Rs 6,934 crore (42.91%);

FY25 - Rs 20,309 crore vs. Rs 8,002 crore (39.40%); 

FY26 - Rs 17,803 crore vs. Rs 10,054 crore (56.47%).

Union Bank of India

Union Bank of India undertook the second-largest write-off exercise during this five-year period, with Rs 75,200 crore NPAs going out of the balance sheet.

The lender recovered Rs 20,594 crore, which is just 27.39% value of the NPAs written off. 

Write-offs vs. Recoveries 

Year-wise, this is how it went: 

FY22 - Rs 19,484 crore vs. Rs 2,750 crore (14.11%); 

FY23 - Rs 19,175 crore vs. Rs 5,549 crore (28.94%); 

FY24 - Rs 18,264 crore vs. Rs 3,987 crore (21.83%); 

FY25 - Rs 11,634 crore vs. Rs 4,311 crore (37.06%);

FY26 - Rs, 6,643 crore vs. Rs 3,997 crore (60.17%).

Punjab National Bank

The next in the hierarchy was Punjab National Bank, with Rs 73,062 crore written off and Rs 26,907 crore recovered (36.83%) in the last five financial years.

Write-offs vs. Recoveries

Year-wise, the face off looked like this: 

FY22 - Rs 18,312 crore vs Rs 3,441 crore (18.79%);

FY23 - Rs 16,578 crore vs. Rs 6,508 crore (39.26%); 

FY24 - Rs 18,317 crore vs. Rs 6,101 crore (33.31%); 

FY25 - Rs 12,159 crore vs. Rs 4,926 crore (40.51%); 

FY26 - Rs 7,696 crore vs. Rs 5,931 crore (77.07%).

Bank of Baroda

Bank of Baroda wrote off NPAs worth Rs 61,609 crore while recovering Rs 17,922 crore in the past five financial years (29.09%).

Write-offs vs. Recoveries

Year-wise, the two sprinted like this: 

FY22- Rs 17,967 crore vs. Rs 2,510 crore (13.97%); 

FY23 - Rs 17,998 crore vs. Rs 3,277 crore (18.21%); 

FY24 - Rs 10,518 crore vs. Rs 3,943 crore (37.49%); 

FY25 - Rs 8,796 crore vs. Rs 4,767 crore (54.20%); 

FY26 - Rs 6,330 crore vs. Rs 3,425 crore (54.11%).

Canara Bank 

Canara Bank wrote off Rs 60,688 crore and recovered Rs 27,378 crore (45.11%) during the last five financial years, government data showed.

Write-offs vs. Recoveries

Year-wise, this is how they ran:

FY22 - Rs 8,210 crore vs. Rs 2,747 crore (33.46); 

FY23 - Rs 12,760 crore vs. Rs 5,110 crore (40.05%); 

FY24 - Rs 11,827 crore vs. Rs 6,032 crore (51%); 

FY25 - Rs 14,350 crore vs. Rs 6,924 crore (48.25%); 

FY26 - Rs 13,541 crore vs. Rs 6,565 crore (48.48%).

Bank of India

Bank of India had a write-off figure of Rs 42,916 crore while recovery was at Rs 8,810 crore (20.53%).

Write-offs vs. Recoveries

Year-wise, this is how the data went: 

FY22 - Rs 10,443 crore vs. Rs 1,097 crore (10.50%); 

FY23 - Rs 8,694 crore vs. Rs 1,207 crore (13.88%); 

FY24 - Rs 9,897 crore vs. Rs 1,467 crore (14.82%); 

FY25 - Rs 7,959 crore vs Rs 2,365 crore (29.71%); 

FY26 - Rs 5,923 crore vs. Rs 2,674 crore (45.15%).

Indian Bank

Indian Bank’s write-off total in five years was Rs 36,511 crore while recovery was at 10,551 crore (28.90%).

Write-offs vs. Recoveries

Year-wise, this is how it got displayed: 

FY22 - Rs 8,347 crore vs. Rs 1,612 crore (19.31%);

FY23 - Rs 7,952 crore vs. Rs 2,177 crore (27.38%);

FY24 - Rs 8,734 crore vs. Rs 1,879 crore (21.51%);

FY25 - Rs 4,916 crore vs. Rs 2,548 crore (51.83%);

FY26 - Rs 6,562 crore vs Rs 2,335 crore (35.58%).

Central Bank of India

Central Bank of India’s write-off kitty in the years between FY22 and FY26 was at Rs 26,584 crore while recovery was at Rs 7,035 crore (26.46%).

Write-offs vs. Recoveries

Year-wise, this is how it went:

FY22- Rs 1,236 crore vs. Rs 332 crore (26.86%);

FY23 - Rs 10,258 crore vs. Rs 1,283 crore (12.51%);

FY24 - Rs 10,001 crore vs. Rs 1,433 crore (14.33%);

FY25 - Rs 3,370 crore vs. Rs 1,716 crore (50.92%);

FY26 – Rs 1,719 crore vs. Rs 2,271 crore (132.11%).

Indian Overseas Bank 

Indian Overseas Bank is an interesting story in that it reported a paltry Rs 19 crore in recovery from written off accounts in FY22, probably the lowest ever in a year.

Even the next year was no different as its recovery drive in that fiscal was below the Rs 100-mark. The recovery to write-off loans percentage was just 2.64.

After those two dismal years, the lender paced up its recovery efforts better. This improved the recovery to 36.90% of the written-off loan value during this period.

For the financial years between FY22 and FY26, the bank wrote off a total of Rs 19,437 crore and recovered Rs 7,173 crore. 

Write-offs vs. Recoveries

Year-wise, this is how it looked:

FY22 – Rs 3,769 crore vs. Rs 19 crore (0.50%);

FY23 – Rs 3,412 crore vs. Rs 90 crore (2.64%);

FY24 – Rs 7,179 crore vs 2,430 crore (33.85%); 

FY25 – Rs 3,885 crore vs. Rs 2,454 crore (63.17%);

FY26 – Rs 1,192 crore vs. Rs 2,180 crore (182.89%). 

UCO Bank 

For the past two financial years, UCO Bank recovered more than it wrote off against bad loans. Even otherwise, it had a comparatively good recovery run rate.

The lender wrote off a total of Rs 11,208 crore and recovered Rs 8,608 crore during this period. The recovery as a percentage of loan write-offs was 76.80%. 

Write-offs vs. Recoveries

Year-wise, this is how it went:

FY22 - Rs 3,851 crore vs. Rs 1,546 crore (40.15%);

FY23 - Rs 2,575 crore vs. Rs 1,624 crore (63.07%);

FY24 - Rs 1,938 crore vs. Rs 1,487 crore (76.73%);

FY25 - Rs 1,566 crore vs. Rs 2,624 crore (167.56%);

FY26 - Rs 1,278 crore vs. Rs 1,327 crore (103.83%).

Bank of Maharashtra 

Bank of Maharashtra’s recovery gathered particular speed during the last three financial years. 

While the bad loan write-offs stood at Rs 7,604 crore between FY22 and FY26, recovery was at Rs 5,368 crore (70.59%).

Write-offs vs. Recoveries

Year-wise, this is how it went:

FY22 – Rs 3,118 crore vs. Rs 642 crore (20.59%);

FY23 – Rs 1,491 crore vs. Rs 943 crore (63.25%);

FY24 – Rs 990 crore vs. Rs 985 crore (99.49%);

FY25 – Rs 796 crore vs. Rs 1,375 crore (172.74%);

FY26 - Rs 1,209 vs Rs 1,423 crore (117.70%).

Punjab & Sind Bank 

Punjab & Sind Bank’s write-offs stood at Rs 6,366 crore during the five financial years ending March 2026 while recovery was at Rs 2,722 crore (42.76%).

Write-offs vs. Recoveries

Year-wise, this is how it looked:

FY22 – Rs 1,134 crore vs. Rs 261 crore (23.02%);

FY23 – Rs 2,283 crore vs Rs 512 crore (22.43%);

FY24 – Rs 796 crore vs. Rs 691 crore (86.81%);

FY25 – Rs 1,521 crore vs. Rs 551 crore (36.23%);

FY26 - Rs 632 crore vs. Rs 707 crore (111.87%).

Wilful defaulters owe Rs 2.85 lakh crore to PSBs

As of 30 June 2026, 15,930 wilful defaulters owed Rs 2.85 lakh crore to the state-run banks.

“As per inputs received from public sector banks, the outstanding amount owed by wilful defaulters of Rs 25 lakh and above as on June 26 is Rs 285,015 crore,” Chaudhary informed the Lok Sabha. 

Out of this, 7,190 cases involving defaults amounting to Rs 192,187 crore have been referred for criminal action, he added.

Sector-wise write-offs

Among sectors, industry drew the largest write-offs at Rs 195,315 crore. The segment saw a decline to Rs 17,266 crore in FY26 from a peak of Rs 54,771 crore in FY23. In FY22, FY24 and FY25, the write-offs stood at Rs 46,246 crore, Rs 45,767 crore and Rs 31,265 crore, respectively.

The second in the table was the services sector, which saw the 12 public sector banks writing off Rs 152,233 crore during the five financial years ending March 2026. This followed a similar year-wise trend, with the peak at Rs 39,817 crore in FY23. In FY22, FY24, FY25, FY26, the figures were at Rs 37,149 crore, Rs 30,586 crore, Rs 28,168 crore and Rs 16,513 crore, respectively.

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) saw Rs 99,016 crore in write-offs. While Rs 20,221 crore came in FY22, Rs 22,479 crore got pulled out of balance sheet in FY23, Rs 17,993 crore in FY24, Rs 19,758 crore in FY25 and Rs 18,565 crore in FY26.

Agriculture and allied activities saw write-offs of Rs 75,591 crore, with FY22 accounting for Rs 8,703 crore, FY23 for Rs 15,552 crore, FY24 for Rs 18,901 crore, FY25 for 13,017 crore and FY26 for Rs 19,418 crore.

Retail loans accounted for Rs 34,940 crore write-offs during the five-year period. It saw a slow rise over the years, with Rs 4,478 crore coming in FY22, Rs 5,145 crore in FY23, Rs 8,039 crore in FY24, Rs 8,193 crore in FY25 and Rs 9,085 crore in FY26.

If industry and services are taken together, the write-off stands at Rs 347,548 crore in the last five years. This compares with Rs 75,591 crore in agriculture and allied activities, some analysts point out, adding that retail loan write-offs have been crawling.