The worst of India banks' bad-loan woes may be yet to come

Mumbai

JUST when many Indian banks thought the worst of their bad debt woes were behind them, new central bank rules are stoking fears that the worst of the soured-loans buildup is yet to come.

The central bank surprised the financial sector this week by halting all of its existing loan-restructuring mechanisms with immediate effect, and rolling out new rules that will push more debt defaulters into bankruptcy courts.

To force its point home, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) set strict timelines for lenders to take action aga…