Inching a step closer to privatisation of two public sector banks, a high-level panel headed by the cabinet secretary recently held a meeting to thrash out various regulatory and administrative issues so that the proposal could be placed with the group of ministers on disinvestment or Alternative Mechanism (AM) for approval.
Pursuant to the announcement made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her 2021 budget speech, the NITI Aayog has suggested a couple of bank names for privatisation to the Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment headed by Cabinet Secretary in April, sources said.
The meeting of the high-level panel deliberated on the recommendation of the NITI Aayog on Thursday June 24, sources said, adding the panel would after tying up all loose ends will send the names of the shortlisted PSU banks to AM for consideration.
Headed by the cabinet secretary, the members of the panel include secretaries in the departments of Economic Affairs, Revenue, Expenditure, Corporate Affairs and Legal Affairs, as well as the secretary of administrative department. The panel also has the Department of Public Enterprises, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) secretary as its member.
According to sources, the panel also examined issues pertaining to protection of interests of workers of banks which are likely to be privatised.Following a clearance from AM, it will go to the Union Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister for the final nod. Changes on the regulatory side to facilitate privatisation would start after the cabinet approval.