SC lifting of mining ban a relief for bankers too

TEAM HERALD

teamherald@herald-goa.com

MARGAO:  With the Supreme court lifting the ban on mining, bankers see a ray of hope in recovering the huge outstanding loans sanctioned to mining stakeholders -– the transporters, barge owners– for mining activities.

Bankers heaved a sigh of relief in the wake of the Supreme court order lifting the ban. The reason is not far too seek. Banks across the state, including nationalised, private and those in cooperative sectors, had advanced a total loan of Rs 730 crore to the mining sector over the years. The huge outstanding loan had been a matter for concern for the bankers, with the mining activity coming to a complete halt for near two years now.

The bankers now hope that the process of repayment of loans, which was rescheduled in view of the mining ban, would resume after actual mining activity starts on the ground. There were others who felt the mining transporters should start the repayment process by paying the minimum slab fixed by the banks after the crisis hit the industry.

Incidentally, though the huge outstanding loan had stared at the bankers, most banks adopted a lenient approach, providing a rescheduling facility to stakeholders for repayment of the loans. 

Sources say that the intervention by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and his appeal to the bankers against going in for a loan recovery had prompted many a banker to go slow in initiating the recovery process. “At the 84th meeting of the state level bankers’ committee of Goa held on February 26, 2014, the chief minister had made an appeal to the bankers not to take any harsh step to recover the loans, fearing the move will only complicate the problem”, a banker told Herald.

When contacted, Lead District Manager (south Goa) SBI M B Sawant said the Supreme court’s order lifting the mining ban is welcome news for the banking sector. “We welcome the Supreme Court’s order lifting the mining ban. The order will not only ensure resumption of mining but will also help bankers recover huge outstanding loans”, he said.

An in-charge of a private bank told Herald  that the mining transporters should at least now start repayment of the loans. “We had sanctioned loans to around 150 truckers, of which loans of 60 parties were rescheduled, with offers to repay the amount in monthly installments, ranging from Rs 5000 upto Rs 15,000. There were more than 60 parties who had refused to repay. We hope the SC order will now help the bank to recover the loan”, remarked the bank in-charge.