To increase government income, the government has chosen four mid-sized banks, taking another step forward towards selling properties. Reuters has quoted this news from three government sources. Privatization of the banking sector will put the jobs of hundreds of employees at risk. But the objective of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration is to make a beginning with other level banks.
The four banks shortlisted are Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and Central Bank. Two Reuters official sources have said that the matter has not been made public yet.
According to information a banker aware of this whole matter told that the government will identify those banks which will remain after the merger of banks. These include Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and Central Bank of India. Out of these four, two banks will be selected for privatization.
Sources said that the selection for privatization of 2 of these banks will be started in the financial year 2021-2022, which starts from April. Officials said that the government is considering mid-level banks in the first round for privatization. But, in the coming years, the government can also consider some big banks.
According to an estimate by bank unions, there are about 50 thousand people working in Bank of India. While the Central Bank of India has 33 thousand staff. Indian Overseas Bank has 26 thousand employees, while Bank of Maharashtra has 13 thousand employees.