Banks recovered over Rs 7.34 lakh crore in the past six years and the first six months of the current fiscal year, the government said in Parliament on Tuesday. During the past six financial years and the first six months of the current financial year, banks have effected an aggregate recovery of Rs 7,34,542 crore, in non-performing assets and written-off loan accounts, including those reported as fraud, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

On recovery of fraud amounts, the minister said Rs 55,895 crore have been recovered in the past six financial years and the current financial year up to December 31, 2021, he said.

The minister said the Reserve Bank of India had issued master directions on fraud to banks in 2016 and the government has instituted wide-ranging structural and procedural reforms to check frauds in banks.

He added that these systematic and comprehensive checking of frauds, including the legacy stock of non-performing assets, led to the unearthing of frauds perpetrated over the years.

These steps have helped in a sharp decline in fraud amount from Rs 68,962 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 11,583 crore in 2020-21.

During the April-December period of 2021-22, the amount involved in bank frauds stood at Rs 648 crore, he added.