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Increase in gold loan NPAs: Congress says govt ‘stealing mangalsutras’
The Indian Express had on December 31 reported that gold loan non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) had risen 30 per cent to Rs 6,696 crore as of June 2024, from Rs 5,149 crore just three months ago.
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“These are just the formal sector gold loans – there’s no estimate of how many families have taken recourse to the informal sector," says MP Jairam Ramesh. Flagging a report by The Indian Express on a rise in gold loan defaults, the Congress Thursday called the Union government the first one in Independent India to “steal mangalsutras”.
The Indian Express had on December 31 reported that gold loan non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) had risen 30 per cent to Rs 6,696 crore as of June 2024, from Rs 5,149 crore just three months ago. Citing these figures from the report, Congress communications in-charge and MP Jairam Ramesh said Thursday: “These are just the formal sector gold loans – there’s no estimate of how many families have taken recourse to the informal sector.”
“At a time when the non-biological PM was scaremongering about some imagined plot to steal Mangalsutras, we had raised the issue of the rapid rise in gold loans during his tenure. An estimated Rs. 3 lakh crores in gold loans have been taken out by Indian families and are outstanding as of today….” said Ramesh on X.
“When families default on these loans, they often lose the underlying gold asset – in most cases, the woman’s jewelry, including the mangalsutra,” he said. “The Modi Government’s rampant cronyism, erratic policymaking, and warped priorities have earned it the dubious distinction of being the only Government in the history of Independent India to steal mangalsutras from women.”
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