Centre to pump in Rs 2.11 lakh crore to revive PSU banks

The capital infusion, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, will be accompanied by reforms to enable the stateowned banks to play a major role in the financial system and give a strong push to the job-creating MSME sector. 

Giving details, Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar said the government has decided to take a massive step to capitalise PSBs (public sector banks) in a “front-loaded” manner, with a view to support credit growth and job creation. Jaitley said the details of the re-capitalisation bonds would be determined in the due course. The programme entails mobilisation of capital, with maximum allocation in the current year, to the tune of about Rs 2,11,000 crore over the next two years, through budgetary provisions of Rs 18,139 crore, and recapitalisation bonds to the tune of Rs 1.35 lakh crore. 

The balance will be raised by banks from the market by diluting government equity. The government’s equity dilution will help banks to raise about Rs 58,000 crore. The government equity, as per the current policy, can come down to 52 per cent in state-owned banks. Jaitley said the “bold” and “unprecedented” decision on strengthening banks was taken by the Union Cabinet. “...Rs 2.11 lakh crore is the capital which is intended to be now injected further into the banks. This of course, will be accompanied by series of banking reforms (over next few months...,” he said. 

Attributing the mess in the PSBs to “indiscriminate” lending during 2008-2014 period of the last UPA government, Jaitley said banking reforms would prevent repetition of such practices. 

To a query, Kumar said the government would follow a differential approach in pumping funds into the banks which will include their performance and potential. Non-performing assets of banks have increased from Rs 2.78 lakh crore in March 2015 to a staggering Rs 7.33 lakh crore as on June 2017.