Jaitley also hinted that these very economic realities could decide whether the government sticks to a fiscal consolidation roadmap or not.
The 66-year-old finance minister underwent a successful kidney transplant surgery in mid-May and was on leave since April due to kidney-related problems and chest infection.
The two entities' combined distribution network would comprise 4,182 banking outlets and 476 ATMs across 34 states and Union territories of India, with more than 31,000 employees serving about 15 million customers across the country.
Cyber crimes in 2016-2017: 1,372 cases. Cost: Rs 423 million.
This amount will include Rs 13,100 crore that Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Garg has been publicly seeking from the central bank's contingency reserve fund since 2017-18 (FY18).
Customers using mobile wallets, prepaid payments cards, and paper vouchers such as Sodexo have been absolved of liability for fraud if it is reported within three days.
The losses in state elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh have put the ruling party under pressure to announce swift measures aimed at addressing rural distress and lack of employment.
The Centre has projected reining in its fiscal deficit at 3.3 per cent of GDP in FY19.
A chunk of divestment till now has come from follow-on offerings in the Centre's two ETFs, Bharat-22 and CPSE. Now, there will be initial public offerings of Mazagon Docks, rail companies RVNL and IRFC and MSTC.
Highly-placed sources in the government say that none of the senior ministers had any inkling of Patel's resignation
179 million debit cards were issued during December 2016 to June 2018. A mere 2,000 ATMs were opened in the same period.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley revealed that the government wanted to give Hasmukh Adhia a post-retirement role, but Dr Adhia said he would not work for a single day after November 30.
For banks, the package will limit the burden of provisioning for stressed loans. Besides, the proposed restructuring package for MSMEs with a credit of up to Rs 25 crore is expected to provide a breather to units from this sector.
Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia vacates his post on November 30 and Expenditure Secretary Ajay Narayan Jha, the second seniormost bureaucrat in the finance ministry, retires on January 31, the day before Jaitley presents the 2019-20 interim budget.
There was no law that prevented the government from presenting a sixth full Budget, or something similar to it.
If a name does not unify the three, there could be continued clash of identities, which could splinter the brand even before it takes shape, say Abhijit Lele and Nikhat Hetavkar.
The Financial Stability and Development Council meeting on Tuesday started with an air of tension in the room. An official present described the participants' body language as "tetchy". However, once presentations and discussions begun, the mood considerably eased.
The meeting was amicable, a stark contrast to the meetings of earlier years that always ended with the rivals at loggerheads.
The bank has hired US-based advisory firm Korn Ferry to help with the selection process.
Senior policymakers say it is a tough task and the finance ministry may resort to the time-tested method of carrying forward part of the subsidy payment burden to the next fiscal year.