PNB plans to put up more than 4,000 properties for e-auction

Punjab National Bank has decided to place more than 4,000 properties all over India on e-auction as part of the SARFAESI Action initiated by the public sector bank.

This forms part of the bank’s efforts to achieve recoveries of Rs. 26,000 crore this fiscal. All Indian citizens and corporates can participate in the auction. The last date to participate or submit EMD differs for each auction. Properties of all kinds – commercial, including industrial/factory land and building, residential, vacant plot – are being put for auction.

It may be recalled that PNB had returned to profitability in the third quarter ended December 31, 2018, reporting a profit of Rs. 247 crore. The turnaround has come after three consecutive quarterly losses that the bank posted after the Rs. 14,000-crore scam perpetrated by diamantaire Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi came to light in February 2018.

The proposed e-auctions of these 4,000 properties are expected to substantially add to the overall recovery tally of the bank. Sunil Mehta, Managing Director and CEO of PNB, had recently said that the bank would make efforts to bring down the gross NPAs by two percentage points to about 14 per cent by the end of March this fiscal.

He had then said that the bank expects bad-loan recoveries to the tune of about Rs. 8,000 crore in the last quarter, mainly from big corporate insolvency resolution cases that are before the NCLT.