Punjab National Bank has informed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regarding a borrowal fraud of around ₹2,434 crore linked to former promoters of SREI Equipment Finance Ltd and SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd, the lending giant informed the exchanges on Friday, 26 December 2025.
These companies were successfully resolved under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) by the NCLT, PNB noted.
Out of the ₹2,434 crore fraud, ₹1,241 crore is associated with a loan account of SREI Equipment Finance Ltd, and ₹1,193 crore with the loan account of SREI Infrastructure Finance Ltd. The lender has made provision for the total outstanding amount, according to the filing.
PNB share price
The state-owned bank made the fraud announcement following the market hours on Friday, 26 December. PNB shares ended 0.50% lower at ₹120.35 on BSE today.
PNB Non-performing assets
The lender's gross non performing assets (NPAs) decreased from ₹47,582 crore at the end of September 2024 to ₹40,343 crore at the end of September 2025, driven by improvements in recoveries, upgradation, and a reduction in fresh slippages, the lender informed in a separate exchange filing on 15 December, when Brickwork Ratings reaffirmed the ratings in respect of Basel III Additional Tier 1 Bonds as BWR AA+/Stable.
In H1FY26, the bank recovered ₹3,909 crore from NPAs, including ₹2,105 crore through cash recoveries and ₹1,804 crore by upgrading accounts to standard. Asset quality improvement was also supported by a write-off of ₹3,201 crore, down from ₹8,061 crore in H1FY25. While fresh slippages were ₹3,136 crore in H1FY26, they decreased slightly from ₹3,159 crore in H1FY25. Continued efforts to reduce slippages and enhance recovery and collections are expected to further improve asset quality, lowering the impact on provisioning costs and profitability, PNB said.
About PNB
PNB ranks among the top three Public Sector banks in India by business size, with a strong presence in North and Central India. As of 30 September 2025, the bank had 10,228 domestic branches and 2 international branches. Of these branches, 63.3% were located in Rural and Semi-Urban areas. The distribution of branches is as follows: Rural 3948 (38.6%), Semi-Urban 2530 (24.7%), Urban 2015 (19.7%), and Metro 1735 (17.0%).
