Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the NPA problem being faced by Indian banks is the creation of the UPA government during 2008 to 2014.

Accusing the Congress of "underground loot of banks", Modi said the loans were given to select industrialists during the previous UPA rule.

"I want to tell you about the NPA problem. Much before internet banking, the Congress invented phone banking and this caused the NPA mess. A phone call would get loans for their cronies and the nation suffered," Modi said in his replyg to the debate on the no confidence motion in the Lok Sabha.

"Our government decided that the banks should come out into the open with NPAs, and we also took some decisions that would help the country in long run."

He said for sixty years after independence, Rs 18 lakh crore was the total bank loan but between 2008 to 2014, this increased to Rs 52 lakh crores.

"The underground loot of banks went on from 2009 to 2014. So long as Congress was in power, the game of looting the nation continued.

"How did it happen? Internet banking came much later. But Congress is so intelligent that even before internet banking, phone banking started in India. Through phone banking, they increased NPAs to 52 lakh crore from 18 lakh crore," said Modi.

"What was the method? Loans were given on telephone. Loans after loans were given on telephone," he added.

The Prime Minister also said: "We started mechanism to reduce NPAs. UPA government took such decisions due too which there was increase in import of capital goods. It was done by reducing custom duties. The financing of these imports was done through bank loans."