At a time when the finance ministry is focusing on addressing employee grievances, the number of employees in most public-sector banks (PSBs) has declined over the last three financial years.
The government will not bring down its ownership in public banks.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Northeast's first Emergency Landing Facility in Assam, boosting regional defense and disaster response capabilities.
Privately, many bankers admit their immediate goal is not growth but slowing the erosion of Casa deposits, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has initiated discussions with banks to address financial stress in the telecom sector, particularly Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) that urgently requires fund infusion to stay afloat. There was a meeting of DOT officials and senior bankers on Friday on the issue of Vodafone, sources said, adding that banks have been asked to look for a solution within the prudential guidelines. According to sources, senior officials from the country's biggest lenders State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda were also present among others in the meeting. More such meetings are expected to take place in the coming days, they said.
Bank strike continued for day-two on Tuesday, led by nine unions of public sector banks (PSBs) in the country, opposing government's policy to privatise the lenders. Customers will be inconvenienced to get services such as cash withdrawals, deposits, cheque clearances, remittance services. Government transactions related to treasury as well as business transactions will also be impacted. United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions, had given a strike call for March 15 and 16.
This exercise allows investors to realign their portfolios with changing market conditions and evolving personal objectives.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries has retained its position as the highest-ranked Indian company on the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list, according to the latest rankings released by the publication. The oil-to-telecom-and-retail conglomerate has been ranked at No.88 on the latest list, down from 86th position in 2024.
'Indian markets may underperform global peers for the next two quarters.' 'But beyond that, India should catch up and resume its long-term growth path.'
As the fight for deposits intensifies, the cost of money will rise and the margin will be under further pressure, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The maximum tenure of CEO and MD of public sector banks has been increased to 10 years, a move that will help the government retain the best talent in the banking sector. As per a government notification dated November 17, 2022, the term for the appointment has been extended to 10 years, from the earlier 5 years, subject to superannuation age of 60 years. Earlier, the MD or executive director of a public sector undertaking (PSU) bank was eligible for a maximum tenure of 5 years or 60 years whichever was earlier.
Employees of public sector banks (PSBs) on Thursday went on two-day strike against the move to privatise public sector banks impacting normal banking operation across the country. Many branches across different parts of the country were shut as the United Forum of Bank Union (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine bank unions including All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW) had given two day strike call. As a result, services such as deposits and withdrawal at branches, cheque clearance and loan approvals might be affected due to the strike. But ATMs are expected to function as usual.
The Union Finance Ministry on Tuesday said that aggregate business of public sector banks (PSBs) has shown strong growth of 11 per cent in the first half of the financial year 2024-25 (H1FY25) to touch Rs 236 trillion. The operating and net profit were also robust. At Rs 1.5 trillion, operating profit grew by 14.4 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) while the net profit saw an impressive 25.6 per cent jump at Rs 85,520 crore in the first half of FY25.
India's corporate bond market, driven by public sector undertaking (PSU) banks and financial institutions last year, is losing momentum since the second quarter of FY26.
'Raising the entire amount in one go may not be prudent, given the market dynamics.'
If they are made accountable, bad loan cases will shrink dramatically, recoveries will rise, and the NCLT process will be more manageable, asserts Debashis Basu.
State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) is willing to dilute a 30-40 per cent stake in its upcoming greenfield refinery in Andhra Pradesh, with Gulf energy major Saudi Aramco and upstream player Oil India Ltd (OIL) likely to join as partners, a senior BPCL executive said.
India has a unique window of opportunity to effectuate long-lasting structural change in its banking sector, says Riju Agrawal.
Bankers said the mammoth task of cleaning up the PSBs and improving their health will be a mammoth task for any chief executive.
Banks are in need of government support to manage the stressed assets
India's $280-billion IT industry heads into 2026, balancing visa-related headwinds and global trade uncertainty against its biggest-ever push into artificial intelligence and the rapid expansion of global capability centres (GCCs). Heightened scrutiny of the US H-1B visa programme - including a proposed $100,000 fee for new visas and concerns over a potential 25 per cent outsourcing tax - has complicated cross-border delivery for Indian firms, even as companies accelerate efforts to reduce reliance on onsite staffing.
rediffGURU Rohit Gupta, co-founder and COO of College Vidya, provides a list of competitive exams that can help you land a job in the public sector.
Fresh plans of privatisation or divestment in central public sector enterprises and public sector banks might take a back seat this financial year because these may require a large consensus among coalition partners.
The RBI advisory follows a labour ministry request earlier this year seeking the central bank's expertise to identify gaps in EPFO's investment strategy and fund management practices, including accounting, risk management, and internal governance.
This shortfall could continue to hurt loan growth in 2016-17.
'Today, three areas give banks a big headache -- steel, power, infrastructure.' 'Three Cs are very critical in lending -- character, capacity and collateral of the borrower.'
It is difficult to say if the banking sector will see the worst behind it by March 2020, warns Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan on Friday said banking sector will see major changes in the coming years.
The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) will invite public comments on the revised International Standard on Auditing 600 (ISA 600) proposed to be adopted by publicly listed companies and non-public-sector banks, sources close to the development told Business Standard. The decision to take this "graded approach" for the adoption of the ISA, which is meant to rein in auditors often found hiding behind the audit reports signed off by subsidiary companies, was taken at a meeting of various financial sector regulators at NFRA's board meeting on Monday (August 26). The idea behind upgrading the Standards of Audit 600 currently followed by Indian auditors to ISA 600 is to plug current gaps, which have led to major audit lapses in the recent past.
Banks recorded a higher growth year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in raising deposits during the second quarter of financial year 2025 (Q2FY25) compared to Q1FY25, owing to intensified efforts to raise liabilities by offering higher rates and innovative schemes.
Markets regulator Sebi board on Wednesday approved a series of measures aimed at improving investor convenience, easing compliance norms, and deepening participation in the capital and debt markets.
'Foreign capital will continue to come directly into India, but companies have realised that GIFT City is a more cost-efficient way of channelling funds.'
'This will be our first large-size bank partner, and hence, the partnership will be a game-changer for us.'
HDFC Bank on Wednesday reported a 2.3 per cent year-on-year rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 17,657 crore for the October-December quarter, restricted by slower loan growth. On a standalone basis, the largest private sector lender's net profit came at Rs 16,735.50 crore for the period, up from Rs 16,372.54 crore in the year-ago period, but marginally down from the preceding quarter's Rs 16,820.97 crore.
Amendments would be required in the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970 and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1980 for privatisation, sources said.
The UFBU is an umbrella body of nine bank employees unions of the country and claims to have members from public, private and foreign banks. "We are on strike from today as Indian Banks' Association did not concede to the bank unions demand for the wage hike," said United Forum of Bank Unions convener C H Venkatachalam.
'When you have the best market at your doorstep, international diversification is a distraction.'
'I will not be surprised if there is a 7 per cent handle in front of the decimal place for the full financial year.'
