The government needs to speed up reclamation as the cost of land degradation will outstrip the cost of reclamation in 2030, according to the 2018 study done by The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI), a Delhi-based think-tank.
 
The study divided the losses into two major categories: The cost of land degradation by land type, including agriculture, rangelands and forests; and the loss incurred when land is changed from a more to a less productive use.
 
Almost 82% of the estimated cost is on account of land degradation and 18% due to land use change, the study found.
 
India has a geographic area of 328.72 million hectare, of which land degradation is estimated to be 96.4 million hectare, or 29.32% of land area–as much as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra put together–according to the 2016 study by Space Applications Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).  
 

Source: The Energy And Resource Institute
Note: Costs are according to 2014-15 prices
 
The larger concern is the degradation of existing ecosystems, the study said.
 
“This is a serious concern, particularly given that India aims to be land degradation-neutral in 2030, where any increases in land degradation are balanced by equivalent gains in land reclamation,” the study added.
 
Water erosion largest cause of losses in agriculture sector
 
Losses in the agriculture sector caused by land degradation due to water erosion, wind erosion, salinity and loss of vegetation are pegged at Rs 72,000 crore ($10.68 billion)—more than the agriculture budget of Rs 58,000 crore ($8.54 billion) in 2018-19–according to the study.
 
Production losses due to erosion of soil through water are found to be the highest in the agriculture sector.

 
The estimated losses for the agricultural sector are conservative since losses for all crops (i.e. cash crops are not included in estimates of soil erosion), regions (i.e. water erosion has been estimated only for rain-fed agriculture), or degradation (i.e. losses due to waterlogging are not included) have not been calculated, the study said.
 
Land degradation cost to outstrip reclamation cost in 2030
 
The estimated annual cost of land degradation (Rs 3.17 lakh crore or $46.90 billion) will outstrip the cost of reclamation in 2030, according to the study.
 
The study looked at two scenarios using two different time-series to project the land reclamation cost in 2030.
 
In scenario 1, which considered degradation data for eight years (2003-11), reclamation was likely to cost around Rs 2.94 lakh crore ($43.37 billion) in 2030.
 
In scenario 2, which considered land-degradation data for 16 years (1995-2011), the reclamation cost was projected to be Rs 3.17 lakh crore ($46.70 billion), 1.5-times more than India’s current combined budgets for health, education and agriculture.
 
The projections of land area likely to be degraded in 2030 under the two scenarios are estimated at 94.53 million hectare and 106.15 million hectare, respectively.
 
(Tripathi is a principal correspondent with IndiaSpend.)
 
Courtesy: India Spend
 

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New Delhi: Indian public sector banks’ (PSB) bad loans soared 1.5 times, from Rs 2.67 lakh crore ($39.99 billion) on March 31, 2015, to Rs 6.89 lakh crore ($103.21 billion)–an amount that could electrify half of India’s households–on June 30, 2017, according to this reply to the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) by Shiv Pratap Shukla, minister of state for finance, on April 6, 2018.
 
Of the 21 public sector banks, 11 had non-performing assets (NPAs) greater than 15% of total assets, as per data cited by the minister. In light of the Rs 11,000 crore fraud at Punjab National Bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has placed all 11 under scrutiny, The Financial Express reported on April 9, 2018. Five more PSBs are expected to join the ranks. Demands that PSBs be privatised have also been reinvigorated since the fraud was unearthed in February this year.
 
Among other corrective action, the RBI will restrict their lending activities, opening up of new branches and recruitment.
 
Indian companies and individuals owed Rs 4.1 lakh crore ($61.41 billion) to PSBs in overdue loans in the “non-priority sector”–mainly corporate lending, car loans, personal finance, credit card dues and home loans–as of March 2016. These NPAs, if fully recovered, would suffice to pay off distressed farm loans across eight states, with a third (32%) still left over, IndiaSpend had reported on July 31, 2017.
 
In the decade to 2016, bad loans in the non-priority sector rose more than 22-fold (2166%) from when they were valued at Rs 18,300 crore in 2006, the report said. During the same period, the sector’s share in public sector banks’ NPAs rose from 44.2% to 76.7%. This growth was particularly pronounced after 2011, when it became 12-fold (1110%) over five years.
 
NPA Ratio Of Public Sector Banks
Public Sector BanksNPA Ratio (In %)Put Under Prompt Corrective Actions By RBI
Allahabad Bank15.46Yes
Andhra Bank14.26Expected to be
Bank of Baroda13.22No
Bank of India15.49Yes
Bank of Maharashtra19.05Yes
Canara Bank10.58Expected to be
Central Bank of India18.08Yes
Corporation Bank15.92Yes
Dena Bank19.56Yes
IDBI Bank Limited24Yes
IndianBank6.4No
Indian Overseas Bank22.74Yes
Oriental Bank of Commerce16.95Yes
Punjab & Sind Bank10.95Expected to be
Punjab National Bank12.88Expected to be
State Bank of India11.8No
Syndicate Bank10.91No
UCO Bank23.29Yes
Union Bank of India13.54Expected to be
United Bank of India20.1Yes
VijayaBank6.17No
Source: Lok Sabha and Financial Express; Data as of December 31, 2017,
 
(Note: The numbers related to electrification are arrived at by multiplying Rs 3,000 per household, the amount the central government is providing for electrification under the Saubhagya scheme, with the overall number of households in the country.)

This article was first published on indiaspend.com.

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