Indian banks 'may take more than US$3b hit from PNB scandal'

New Delhi

INDIAN banks could take a hit of more than US$3 billion from loans and corporate guarantees provided to diamond companies at the centre of a massive alleged fraud at the state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB), the tax department has estimated.

As of March 2017, banks had extended loans and guarantees worth 176.32 billion rupees (S$3.6 billion) to companies tied to billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, the tax department said in a note seen by Reuters.