Dehradun, Jul 2 (IANS): The Uttarakhand government on Monday announced a one-time settlement scheme to bring down the burgeoning non-performing assets (NPAs) of the state and district cooperative banks.

The scheme would continue till October 7 for a period of 100 days starting July 1, state Cooperative Minister Dhan singh Rawat said.

A total of Rs 371.50 crore NPAs have been accumulated in these banks over a period of many decades. This is the first such scheme being launched in the hill state in the past 25 years, Rawat said.

The scheme will be meant for loans of up to Rs 60 lakh only. In this category, a total of 17,464 people have not paid their loans in these banks so far. Ninety eight per cent of the total NPAs will be covered through this scheme, the minister said.

Under the scheme, the guarantors or the family members of a person who is dead will not have to pay the interest of the loan in case the principal amount has been returned.

In case the principal amount has been doubled or increased more than the double due to various reasons, the interest will not be charged by the banks.

For the 'suspected' loans, the banks will give a discount of 30 per cent on interests of the loans.

"After October 7, we will decide our next strategy to tackle NPAs," Rawat said.