The RBI says that on June 30, 2014, the gross NPAs of public sector banks were worth Rs 2,24,542 crore. At the end of December last year, that number had risen to Rs 7,23,513 crore. (Photo: Reuters)

The gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of India's public sector banks more than tripled between June 30, 2014 and the end of December 2017, the Reserve Bank of India said in response to an RTI query sent by India Today TV.

The RBI says that on June 30, 2014, the gross NPAs of these banks were worth Rs 2,24,542 crore. At the end of December last year, that number had risen to Rs 7,23,513 crore. These numbers were reported by the banks to the RBI.

Is there a more recent number, you ask? We asked for the details as of June 30, 2018. The RBI said it didn't have the information.

We also asked for the total loan amount recovered by public sector banks as of June 30 this year. The RBI said the actual recoveries between April 2014 and March 31, 2018 were Rs 1,77,931 crore. The number seems small, given the value of gross NPAs at the end of December 2017.

NPAs have been in the news in recent days, largely because of former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan's written response to a parliamentary panel on the subject.

Notably, he said "a larger number of [the] bad loans originated in the period [of] 2006-2008" -- during the UPA years, that is.

WATCH | Raghuram Rajan's revelations about bad loans and NPA crisis