Rs. 15K Cr awarded to PSBs for ED action: Sitharaman

Public sector banks have received payment of more than Rs 15,000 crore that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seized from defaulters, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Rajya Sabha.

As of December 1, 2023, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized assets worth Rs 15,186.64 crore under the PMLA; of these, Rs 15,183.77 crore had been returned to public sector banks. With active agency collaboration and help, PMC Bank (now amalgamated with Unity Small Finance Bank) has recovered Rs 104.02 crore. Under the terms of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018, assets of Rs 692.89 crore have been seized, Sitharaman stated in response to follow-up questions in the Rajya Sabha.

As of March 31, 2023, Sitharaman reported to the Lower House that 13,978 loan accounts had legal actions filed against them, 11,483 instances had action taken under the SARFAESI Act, 5,674 cases had filed FIRs, and a total of Rs 33,801 crore had been recovered.