The Government is open to further consolidation of banks depending on needs, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur has said.
Last year, the government announced mega amalgamation of 10 public sector banks into four to cater to the needs of the aspirational and New India. This exercise will create six global sized banks, effective April, and will bring down the number of public sector banks to 12 from 27 in 2017.
“We have successfully done the mergers and recapitalisation of the banks. Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) has been successful which has brought back more than Rs 4 lakh crore to the banks. Further consolidation or merger will depend on the need,” Thakur told PTI in an interview.
Creation of global sized banks through consolidation will facilitate Modi government’s resolve to make India a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25, he said. Bigger banks would have wider reach, stronger lending capacity and better products and technology to serve customers of New India.