Steel sector shows signs of improving: Jaitley

New Delhi, Sep 17 (KNN) The steel industry, one of the top contributors to the banks’ non-performing assets, is slowly turning around and companies are beginning to pay interest dues to banks, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

“Provisioning with regard to NPAs has been increasing,” Jaitley told reporters following a quarterly review of public sector banks.

“The major contributors continue to be the steel and infrastructure sectors. With regard to the steel companies, balance sheets have started turning and they have started paying interest.”

He however said that unless they pay the entire interest due, they cannot be reclassified.

In the steel sector, the government introduced a minimum import price to protect domestic firms from a flood of cheap imports.

In other sectors, like infrastructure construction, the government has tried to ensure at least partial payment to contractors even in the case of disputes.

In addition to this, the Reserve Bank of India has provided banks with a number of tools to convert debt in stressed firms into equity, which can allow them to bring in new promoters. (KNN Bureau)