Kashish Jain
Niti Aayog in consultation with the finance ministry started deliberations to finalize the names of the two public sector banks, these are the banks that will get privatized in the current fiscal as a part and parcel of the disinvestment process.
The Government think tank has been entrusted with the task of selection of names of two public sector banks and one general insurance company for privatization. This is per the announcements made by Budget 2021-22.
While in this regard has convened as the Niti Aayog conducts several meetings on the subject. Once the organization makes its recommendations, they will be vetted by the Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment headed by the Cabinet Secretary.
Once the clearance is obtained from the core group, the finalized names will go to the Alternative Mechanism where they will be approved and eventually reach the deliberative table of the Cabinet (headed by the PM) for a final nod. Any changes on the regulatory side to facilitate the process of privatization would begin only after the approval of the Cabinet.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman has said,
“Interests of the workers of banks likely to be privatized will be protected.”
Giving the rationale behind the privatization, Sitaraman has said that the banks in the country need to be bigger, just like the SBI.
According to the Finance Minister, a lot of thought has gone into privatisation as she said,
“We need banks which are going to be able to scale up…We want banks that are going to be able to meet the aspiration needs of this country.”
