Debt knell: With retail debt past Rs 40 lakh crore, worries about defaults on repayments rise
Retail debt in India at over Rs 40 lakh crore has never been so alarmingly high, and lenders have a lot to worry about. Non-performing assets (NPAs) are gradually piling up across retail loan buckets and unsecured portfolios (such as personal loans or credit card payouts) are a ticking time bomb.
The past one year has been tough for Balasundaram Iyengar (name changed on request), who runs a small, brochure-designing company in Delhi. Fresh orders to print glossy catalogues and pamphlets for tour operators — who formed a large part of the firm’s client roster — stopped exactly a year ago, when the first Covid-19 cases began to be reported from the country. Business and life have been on a downward spiral for the Iyengar family ever since.....
