Leaders from ten Public Sector Banks (PSBs) are all set to meet on September 4 in Mumbai to discuss the centre’s merger list and the initial plans.
The meeting will be hosted by the Union Ministry of Finance, to include the representation from State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda, who will talk on their experiences with mergers, says sources.
In April this year, PSBs Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank got amalgamated with Bank of Baroda. In 2017, State Bank of India merged five of its associate banks and Bhartiya Mahila Bank with itself. The associate banks were namely State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Travancore (SBT), State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) and State Bank of Patiala (SBP).
April 1 would be the final deadline for the mergers, and some banks have already expressed this point of view in their meeting with the union finance minister last week.
Last Friday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman revealed a mega plan to amalgamate 10 public sector banks into four. Punjab National Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India will merge to form the nation’s second-largest lender; Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank will merge; Union Bank of India will amalgamate with Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank, and Indian Bank will merge with Allahabad Bank.
The consolidation exercise will cut down the number of nationalised public sector banks from 27 to 12.
