Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during a media briefing on the Financial Sector Reforms at the National Media Centre in New Delhi on Friday. (Express Photo by Amit Mehra)
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Friday announced the merger of several Public Sector Banks (PSBs) in order to revive and revitalise the banking sector with the objective of achieving the $5 trillion economy target. The mergers, which cut to 12 the total number of state-owned banks, from 27 in 2017, are the first since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government won re-election in May. His government has vowed to clean up the banking sector and reduce the number of state-run banks.
# Punjab National Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank to merge to form India’s second-largest bank.
# Canara Bank to merge with Syndicate Bank to create 4th largest public sector bank with Rs 15.20 lakh crore business.
# Union Bank, Andhra Bank, Corporation Bank to merge to become India’s 5th largest public sector bank with Rs 14.59 lakh crore business.
# Indian Bank and Allahabad Bank to merge to create 7th largest public sector bank with Rs 8.08 lakh crore business.
# Bank of India, Central Bank of India will continue as public sector banks.
(With PTI inputs)