The data are simply not being reported with integrity and full coverage in case of large corporate borrowers. That is where RBI’s Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC), initiated in 2014, made a huge difference, even if it was somewhat late to be set up.
CRILC provides a timely window on any degradation of credit of a large borrower at a bank to the central bank and to other banks having the same entity as a borrower. The Asset Quality Review (AQR) that followed in 2015 relied heavily on CRILC data to cleanse the Augean stables of massive and unrecognised non-performing assets (NPAs) that have saddled our banks.