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Bank privatisation: Will SBI, PNB, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda be privatised? Here is what NITI Ayog list said


New Delhi: There has been a sudden buzz regarding a Niti Ayog list on Bank privatisation that includes the country’s largest public sector State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank, Union Bank, Canara Bank, Indian Bank and Bank of Baroda. 

Though the unexpected buzz around privatisation of these public sector banks can’t be ascertained, Niti Ayog had infact released a list of banks for privatisation. The list released in March 2021 had kept State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank, Union Bank, Canara Bank, Indian Bank and Bank of Baroda out of the bank privatisation list. In other words, these banks are not going to be privatised. (Also read: How to Activate SBI WhatsApp Banking System via SMS, online? )

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had last yera said “interests of workers of banks which are likely to be privatised will absolutely be protected whether their salaries or scale or pension all will be taken care of”. Explaining the rationale behind the privatisation, Sitharaman had said that banks in the country needed to be bigger, just like the State Bank of India (SBI). (Also read: Mother Dairy Safal franchise business idea: Invest Rs 2 lakh and earn a handsome income every month)

“We need banks which are going to be able to scale up… We want banks that are going to be able to meet the aspirational needs of this country,” Sitharaman had said, adding that a lot of thought had gone behind the intention to privatise some public sector banks.

In June 2021, government think tank Niti Aayog had submitted to the Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment the finalised names of PSU banks to be privatised in the current fiscal as part of the disinvestment process. Niti Aayog had been entrusted with the task of selection of names of two public sector banks and one general insurance company for the privatisation as announced in the Budget 2021-22.

The government on 19 December 2022 said it will take a view on privatisation of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) after consultation with the concerned department and regulator. Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha had said, “Consideration of issues related to disinvestment and decision on selection, terms and conditions, etc. in case of strategic sale is entrusted to the Cabinet committee designated for this purpose under the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.”

In the Union Budget for the financial year (FY) 2021-22, he said, the government’s intent to take up privatisation of two PSBs and approval of a policy of strategic disinvestment of Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) was announced.

The government has budgeted Rs 1.75 lakh crore from stake sale in public sector companies and financial institutions, including 2 PSU banks and one insurance company, during the current financial year. The amount is lower than the record budgeted Rs 2.10 lakh crore to be raised from CPSE disinvestment in the last fiscal.

With PTI Inputs





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