Foreign institutional investors are more bullish on public sector banks than their private counterparts and have almost doubled their holding in nearly all PSBs in the third quarter of the current fiscal.

Although all private banks have witnessed increased FII holding in the third quarter, the rise in their holding was small in comparison to PSBs.

FIIs more than doubled their holding in as many as eight PSBs out of a total of 14 according to the latest available data. PSBs like Andhra Bank saw FII holding increase from 2.64 per cent in the second quarter to 5.36 per cent in the third quarter -- a 103 per cent rise.

Bank of India on the other had witnessed foreign holding rise from 2.1 per cent to 4.2 per cent -- a 100 per cent growth, Karur Vysya Bank also witnessed FII holding rise from small 1.01 per cent to 4.61 per cent, thus witnessing a 356 per cent rise.

Karnataka Bank also witnessed large growth in foreign shareholding.

Foreign investors increased their holding from a marginal 0.01 per cent to a sizable 3.76 per cent in a single quarter. State Bank of Travancore however saw FII holding rise to 0.8 per cent from 0.4 per cent in the last quarter.

Other banks where FII holding had so long refrained from taking any exposure and has now cornered stakes were State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, UCO Bank.

Other PSBs where FII increased their holding substantially were -- Bank of Baroda. One of the larger commercial banks, BoB witnessed FII holding rise to 15.63 per cent from 11.51 per cent in the period.

Canara Bank saw FII holding rise to 9.28 per cent from 6.77 per cent -- 37 per cent rise. The figure for Corporation Bank was 5.92 per cent against 4.22 per cent in the previous quarter.

FII also enhanced their stake in Oriental Bank of Commerce by a large 58 per cent to 12.57 per cent, while the same for Punjab National Bank was 8.69 per cent against 6.96 per cent, Union Bank saw FII holding rise to 10.86 per cent from 9.45 per cent in the last quarter.

Private banks that witnessed remarkable rise in FII stake were Global Trust Bank and Jammu & Kashmir Bank out of a total of 12 banks for which latest data was available.

While GTB saw FII holding rise to 4.13 per cent from 0.13 per cent, the figure for J&K Bank was 13.21 per cent against 7.89 per cent.