Restructure Bengal's Rs 3 lakh crore debt like NPA: TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy

NEW DELHI: A Trinamool Congress member in Rajya Sabha today demanded restructuring of Rs 2 lakh crore debt of West Bengal on the lines of humongous write-offs of bad loans of corporates done by banks.

Raising the issue through a zero hour mention, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy (TMC) also said if the Centre truly believed in cooperative federalism, it should release over Rs 15,000 crore of pending dues to the state, including Rs 8561 crore for flood relief and Rs 5,100 crore compensation towards CST.

He said public sector banks have written of Rs 3 lakh crore of bad loans. On similar lines, there should be "restructuring of bad debt of West Bengal without further loss of time."

"Why should the same principal of waiver and restructuring not be extended to West Bengal," he said and demanded release of arrears and restructuring of debt his party's government in the state had inherited.

29 public sector banks have reportedly written off an estimated Rs 1.14 lakh crore non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad debts between 2013 and 2015.

Mohammed Nadimul Haque, also TMC, raised the issue of delay in appointment of information commissioners in the Central Information Commission, which has led to large pendency of RTI cases.