NEW DELH - Bad loans held by India's banks are declining as recoveries have picked up and lenders are confident of maintaining liquidity for various sectors as required, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told a news conference on Tuesday.

State-run banks account for the lion's share of more than $150 billion in bad debt which is weighing on the sector, and need billions of dollars in new capital in the next two years to meet global Basel III capital regulations.

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu) ((mayank.bhardwaj@thomsonreuters.com; +91-11-4954 8030; Twitter: @MayankBhardwaj9; Reuters Messaging: mayank.bhardwaj.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))