PSU banks will not receive any fresh funds in Budget: FinMin
21 Jun 2014 11:11 PM GMT
Financial Services Secretary G S Sandhu on Friday ruled out higher fund allocation in the forthcoming budget to recapitalise state-owned banks.
‘Not in this budget. If there is any urgent requirement, the government is always there,’ Sandhu told reporters here on Friday after attending the board meeting of the Life Insurance Corporation of India.
In the interim budget presented on 17 February, the previous government had proposed to earmark Rs 11,200 crore towards equity infusion in public sector banks, which have been facing severe asset quality pressure as bad loans continue to mount. Total non-performing assets (NPAs), or bad loans, of public sector banks stood at 4.4 per cent of advances at the end of March.Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is set to present the Budget next month.
The banking secretary said that there is no pressure from the government on state-run banks
to sell their non-core assets to raise capital. ‘There is no pressure (to sell non-crore assets). We are just examining what all options are available to raise additional capital,’ Sandhu said.
He said the government is likely to take a decision on a proposal to create a holding company structure for public sector banks before the budget. ‘I am hopeful that by the budget, we would have made up our mind on this (holding company structure),’ Sandhu said, adding that the budget would have a road map on it.
The Reserve Bank of India-appointed P J Nayak Committee had called for lowering the government's stake in public sector banks to 51 per cent to meet their capital requirements under Basel III norms and suggested setting up a holding company for all public sector banks.
According to the proposal, the proposed holding company would hold the government's stake in all state-run banks and raise capital through debt and equity on their behalf.Asked about a decision on the merger of State Bank of India subsidiaries, Sandhu said the government is examining the best way to go forward.
‘There is no time frame for this issue because there are so many issues which have to be gone into. There are different ramifications and legal issues. You have to wait for some time,’ he said.
On the recent proposal by the Securities and Exchange Board of India to cut the government's stake in listed public sector companies to 75 per cent over the next three years, Sandhu said, ‘All these are under examination. No decision has been taken yet. I can't say anything at this stage because we are all considering this...’
On appointing managing directors at State Bank of India and two deputy governors at the RBI, he said the process is under way. He also said there is no government view about listing Life Insurance Corporation.
UBI to summon Mallya before declaring him wilful defaulter
City-based United Bank of India (UBI) will ask chairman of grounded Kingfisher Airlines Vijay Mallya to appear before an internal committee to defend himself before the bank declares him a wilful defaulter.
‘We will soon send a letter to Vijay Mallya and ask him to appear before an internal committee of the bank to defend himself...,’ UBI Executive Director Deepak Narang said on Friday. The bank had earlier sent a notice to Mallya in this regard and was given 15 days time to give reply.
‘Mallya replied that he was willing to come and a date will be given this month,’ he said.
Mallya, Narang said, would be asked to come to the bank's head office here by this month.
UBI was the first among other banks in the country to take such a stern step against the liquor baron, he added. UBI's exposure to Kingfisher Airlines is around Rs 350 crore, he said.
He said that a lender declared a person a wilful defaulter when it was satisfied that the borrower did not pay despite having the ability and funds diversion.
‘We have thoroughly scrutinised all the documents and we are completely satisfied,’ he said. Narang said that since the bank did not have a chairman at present, the matter would be preferably taken to the board for approval and declare him as a wilful defaulter.
The country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) was also exploring ways to declare Mallya a wilful defaulter and was currently making forensic audit of the documents. Once declared a defaulter, Mallya would have to step down from board level positions of companies and would be debarred from getting future bank finance.
‘Not in this budget. If there is any urgent requirement, the government is always there,’ Sandhu told reporters here on Friday after attending the board meeting of the Life Insurance Corporation of India.
In the interim budget presented on 17 February, the previous government had proposed to earmark Rs 11,200 crore towards equity infusion in public sector banks, which have been facing severe asset quality pressure as bad loans continue to mount. Total non-performing assets (NPAs), or bad loans, of public sector banks stood at 4.4 per cent of advances at the end of March.Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is set to present the Budget next month.
The banking secretary said that there is no pressure from the government on state-run banks
to sell their non-core assets to raise capital. ‘There is no pressure (to sell non-crore assets). We are just examining what all options are available to raise additional capital,’ Sandhu said.
He said the government is likely to take a decision on a proposal to create a holding company structure for public sector banks before the budget. ‘I am hopeful that by the budget, we would have made up our mind on this (holding company structure),’ Sandhu said, adding that the budget would have a road map on it.
The Reserve Bank of India-appointed P J Nayak Committee had called for lowering the government's stake in public sector banks to 51 per cent to meet their capital requirements under Basel III norms and suggested setting up a holding company for all public sector banks.
According to the proposal, the proposed holding company would hold the government's stake in all state-run banks and raise capital through debt and equity on their behalf.Asked about a decision on the merger of State Bank of India subsidiaries, Sandhu said the government is examining the best way to go forward.
‘There is no time frame for this issue because there are so many issues which have to be gone into. There are different ramifications and legal issues. You have to wait for some time,’ he said.
On the recent proposal by the Securities and Exchange Board of India to cut the government's stake in listed public sector companies to 75 per cent over the next three years, Sandhu said, ‘All these are under examination. No decision has been taken yet. I can't say anything at this stage because we are all considering this...’
On appointing managing directors at State Bank of India and two deputy governors at the RBI, he said the process is under way. He also said there is no government view about listing Life Insurance Corporation.
UBI to summon Mallya before declaring him wilful defaulter
City-based United Bank of India (UBI) will ask chairman of grounded Kingfisher Airlines Vijay Mallya to appear before an internal committee to defend himself before the bank declares him a wilful defaulter.
‘We will soon send a letter to Vijay Mallya and ask him to appear before an internal committee of the bank to defend himself...,’ UBI Executive Director Deepak Narang said on Friday. The bank had earlier sent a notice to Mallya in this regard and was given 15 days time to give reply.
‘Mallya replied that he was willing to come and a date will be given this month,’ he said.
Mallya, Narang said, would be asked to come to the bank's head office here by this month.
UBI was the first among other banks in the country to take such a stern step against the liquor baron, he added. UBI's exposure to Kingfisher Airlines is around Rs 350 crore, he said.
He said that a lender declared a person a wilful defaulter when it was satisfied that the borrower did not pay despite having the ability and funds diversion.
‘We have thoroughly scrutinised all the documents and we are completely satisfied,’ he said. Narang said that since the bank did not have a chairman at present, the matter would be preferably taken to the board for approval and declare him as a wilful defaulter.
The country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) was also exploring ways to declare Mallya a wilful defaulter and was currently making forensic audit of the documents. Once declared a defaulter, Mallya would have to step down from board level positions of companies and would be debarred from getting future bank finance.
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