Steps taken by the government and RBI have led to improvement in recovery of

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bad loans of public sector banks which rose to Rs 1,84,193 crore at the end of December 2012, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today.

"The recovery of NPA (non-performing assets) by public sector banks has increased from Rs 9,726 crore (March 2010), to Rs 13,940 crore (March 2011), to Rs 17,043 crore (March 2012) and Rs 10,815 crore (September 2012)," Chidambaram said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Gross NPA of PSU banks jumped to Rs 1,84,193 crore in December 2012 compared to Rs 1,37,102 crore in March 2012, an increase of Rs 47,091 crore in the nine months period.

He also said, the gross NPA in corporate lending rose to Rs 98,884 crore in December 2012 as against Rs 68,221 crore in March 2012, while in case of farm loan, the gross NPA rose at Rs 30,800 crore in December 2012 as against Rs 24,827 crore in March, 2012.

The government has advised public sector banks to take a number of new initiatives to increase the pace of recovery and manage NPAs which include appointment of nodal officers for recovery of loss assets, to put in place early warning system and to constitute a board level committee for monitoring of recovery, he said.

Besides, the RBI has issued instruction which stipulate that each bank is required to have a robust mechanism for early detection of signs of distress, including prompt restructuring in the case of all viable accounts; to have a loan recovery policy which sets down the manner of recovery dues and targeted level of reduction, he said.

In an another response, Chidambaram said Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT) was rolled out from January 1, 2013 in 43 districts of 26 selected central sector and centrally sponsored schemes in a phase wise manner.

DBT roll-out is based on the twin pillars of Aadhaar generation and financial inclusion, he said, adding, preparedness of districts in this regard determines their readiness for the roll out.