The Finance Ministry Friday said that there is no proposal for merger of four public sector banks, including Canara Bank, and Dena Bank. "Syndicate Bank, Canara Bank, Vijay Bank and Dena Bank have apprised that they have not made presentations about their merger or consolidation to the Ministry of Finance," Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. Last year, five associates and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank were merged with State Bank of India (SBI), catapulting the country's largest lender to among the top 50 banks in the world. State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Patiala (SBP) and State Bank of Travancore (SBT), besides Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB), merged with SBI with effect from April 1, 2017. With the merger, the total customer base of the bank will reach 37 crores with a branch network of around 24,000 and nearly 59,000 ATMs across the country. The government had in February, 2017, approved the merger of these five associate banks with SBI. Later in March, the Cabinet approved merger of BMB as well. SBI first merged State Bank of Saurashtra with itself in 2008. Two years later, State Bank of Indore was merged with it.
