Bill To Privatise Two Public Sector Banks To Be Introduced In Winter Session Of Parliament

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced privatisation of two public sector banks (PSB) under the disinvestment programme while presenting the 2021-22 budget in February this year

Bill To Privatise Two Public Sector Banks To Be Introduced In Winter Session Of Parliament: File Image

New Delhi: The Central Government is set to introduce the Banking Law Amendment Bill 2021 in the Winter Session of Parliament, which begins on Monday, in a bid to privatise two public sector banks.    

By privatising these two public sector banks, the government can reduce its minimum stake in them to 26 percent. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced privatisation of two public sector banks (PSB) under the disinvestment programme while presenting the 2021-22 budget in February this year. A target of raising Rs 1.75 lakh crore from disinvestment in the current financial year has been set.

According to the sources, the government may reduce its stake in PSBs from 51 percent to 26 percent under the Banking Law Amendment 2021. However, he said the cabinet will take a final decision at the time of the introduction of the bill in the Parliament.

Meanwhile, the All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC) has announced protests in Delhi during the Winter Session of Parliament against the privatisation scheme of public sector banks.

AIBOC General Secretary Soumya Dutta had announced the protest saying that the government may introduce a bill to privatise banks in the Winter Session of Parliament starting November 29.

Dutta had said that there was no economic basis behind this move of the government and that it was purely a political decision taken to hand over the bank to the 'capitalists'. Privatisation of public sector banks will affect the priority sectors of the economy and impact the flow of credit to SHGs, the AIBOC General Secretary said.