Noida: NewsX, a leading Indian news channel, hosted the NewsX NPA Files Conclave in New Delhi on 5th June 2018. The event was a culmination of the channel’s 100-day NPA Files campaign, deemed as India’s biggest investigation into Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) or accounts that are classified by a bank or financial institution as sub-standard, doubtful or loss assets.
The day-long event marked the completion of the 100-day campaign through several one-on-one interviews and panel discussions involving some of the biggest influencers of polity and opinion, who deliberated on the ongoing efforts in the country towards addressing the issue of NPAs.
- Attended by political leaders, bureaucrats, economists, leading journalists, corporates and esteemed members of the civil society, the conclave focused on following points:
- presenting an overview of the NewsX investigation, including frontline data gathered by the channel during its 100 days campaign
- highlighting positive efforts made by banks to tabulate / restructure NPAs while tightening their best practices
- highlighting government efforts to address the issue while seeking to provide a low-down on which direction to head – including measures undertaken banks, audit firms, RBI, SEBI and financial institutions to prevent fraud
- providing a neutral and balanced understanding on the NPA issues discovered by the NewsX investigation team, government, audit firms and banker reports / findings.
dispelling the myth that all scams can be executed only with the aid of bank authorities and authorities of influence – a special effort towards creating awareness among citizens to dig out such assets
providing actionable insights – drawn from some of India’s best known financial experts, auditors, bankers and industry leaders – to support the government’s battle against NPAs
The campaign was launched on February 22 and aimed at strengthening India’s financial backbone by weeding out non-performing assets weighing down on banks. NewsX based its campaign on a list of 1,406 outstanding NPAs that prompted the channel to form a special investigation team to kick off an extensive search for details that would help nail the defaulters.
The investigation exposed over 25 cases in Delhi, 4 in Kolkata, 2 in Bengaluru, 4 in Ahmedabad, 3 in Chandigarh and 1 in Hyderabad – collectively amounting to just under 10,000 Cr. During its investigation, the channel was able to gather vital cues on these cases substantiated by:
- Visual record of the visits to offices of 50+ registered addresses of defaulting firms,
- On camera/on phone reactions of directors of 8 defaulting firms
- Investigative files of ROC/ED/CBI/auction records/court records/media reportage of 50+ defaulting firms
- Over 30 hours of analyses programming already telecast
- Over 6 hours of documentary-style reportage – already telecast
- Scores of data points related to the frequency of loans/repeat offenders/trends/primary causes/restructuring details/resolution timelines
The conclave featured special sessions with Shri Piyush Goyal, Hon’ble Minister of Finance, Railways and Coal, Shri Suresh Prabhu, Hon’ble Minister for Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation, Choudhary Birender Singh, Hon’ble Minister of Steel and many leaders and spokespersons from the Government and the Opposition.
The campaign gained in strength through support from citizens towards creating a system that will not allow defaulters to go unchallenged, evidence of which was seen in the campaign hashtag: #NPAFilesonNewsX.
