Banks Write Off ₹10 Lakh Crore in Loans Over 12 Years

Indian banks have written off loans worth nearly ₹10 lakh crore over the past 12 years, according to data submitted in Parliament by Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary. The figures show that loan write-offs reached their highest level in the 2018-19 financial year, when banks wrote off loans worth ₹1.48 lakh crore. In comparison, loans worth ₹20,485 crore were written off during the 2025-26 financial year.

The Union government clarified that a loan write-off is primarily an accounting measure used to clean up a bank’s balance sheet and does not amount to a waiver of the debt. Even after a loan is written off, the borrower remains legally responsible for repayment, and banks can continue recovery proceedings in accordance with applicable rules. The data highlights the scale of bad-loan management in the banking sector while clarifying the distinction between a write-off and a loan waiver.