PSB Privatisation

Have better underwriting, risk magt to manage high credit growth

India needs 'fewer' but stronger Public Sector Banks (PSBs), and the smaller ones could be privatised or merged, former SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya has said. Bhattacharya further said much of the goals that are expected to be achieved through privatisation of PSBs can also actually be achieved by enabling the state-owned banks and by levelling the playing field. "The thing is, privatisation has never been the answer to all the ills," she told PTI while responding to a question on former RBI governor D Subbarao's suggestion that the government should come up with a 10-year road map for privatisation of all PSBs. Subbarao had recently suggested that the government should come up with a 10-year road map for privatisation of all PSBs as it would provide much needed predictability to stakeholders. "I don't really believe that we need so many public sector banks either, the number of PSBs could be decreased. "Some of them could be privatised. And maybe you know, the stronger ones c

Merely bringing down the government stake below 51 per cent may not find any taker for the PSBs. Is the government ready to give up its powers?

First 2 banks for privatisation should be those with good asset quality and low NPA, says the report

Removal of threshold may allow PE firms to own over 10% stake in state-run banks

While NITI Aayog has suggested names of two banks for privatisation, Centre is yet to make a provision for the divestment of govt stake sale below 51%

The stock of the Mumbai-based Central Bank was locked in the upper circuit at Rs 24.30 on the back of an over 2x jump in trading volumes. A combined 88.5 million shares changed hands

The stock witnessed a breakout on the upside on February 15 after news agency Reuters reported that the bank could be one of the four PSBs which the government may privatise in FY22

The policymakers could have chosen no better time than this financial year as the financial quality of the PSB balance sheets has improved this year compared with the last few years

At the bourses, shares of Bank of Maharashtra skyrocketed 15.3 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Indian Overseas Bank surged 12 per cent, and Central Bank of India jumped 10 per cent.

Four to five PSBs have been suggested by the Niti Aayog and they will be discussed in the meeting, sources said

There will be run up in stock when government disinvests its stake, says investor.

The two-day nationwide strike by the public sector bank (PSB) unions ended on Tuesday, with disruption in services like cash withdrawals, deposits, cheque clearances

In the past one week, Bank of Maharashtra and Indian Overseas Bank have surged up to 67 per cent on report that the government has shortlisted four mid-sized state-run banks for privatisation

Here's a selection of Business Standard opinion pieces for the day

Govt must have a clear road map for PSB privatisation

Wants RBI to relax the rules on ownership in private sector banks

The government will refrain from distress sale of its entities, especially if they are in strategic sectors

Nilekani, the architect of the unique ID project Aadhar, said there will be a "massive dissemination" of UPI QR codes in the next few months