NITI Aayog submits names of PSU banks to be privatised
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)
New Delhi: The names of two state-run banks and one general insurance company that can be privatised have been submitted by NITI Aayog to the Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment on Thursday. It was announced in the Union Budget for 2021-22. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has assured that the "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".
The members of the high-level panel are economic affairs secretary, revenue secretary, expenditure secretary, corporate affairs secretary, legal affairs secretary, Department of Public Enterprises secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) secretary and administrative department secretary.
Following the clearance from the Core Group of Secretaries, headed by the Cabinet Secretary, the finalised names will go to Alternative Mechanism (AM) for its approval and eventually to the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister for the final nod.
Changes on the regulatory side to facilitate privatisation would start after the Cabinet approval.
Along with these two state-run banks and one general insurer, the government wants to conclude the privatisation process for Air India, BPCL and Shipping Corporation in this fiscal. The government has budgeted Rs 1.75 lakh crore from disinvestment during the current financial year.As the second wave of the coronavirus threatens to disrupt the projected economic growth in the current fiscal, the government is banking on meeting its non-tax revenue targets. The government is aiming at creation of bigger banks.
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