Size, branch reach make Bank of India an attractive privatisation candidate

First to exit PCA in 2019, the bank's efforts to better its asset quality is yielding results

Ever since the Union Budget, stocks of public sector banks (PSBs) have witnessed a huge rally, thanks to the indication that two such lenders were headed for privatisation.

Names doing the rounds for the privatisation include Bank of Maharashtra, Indian Overseas Bank, Central Bank of India, UCO Bank, and Bank of India (BoI). Their share prices were up 8-20 per cent on Wednesday, with BoI being the top gainer in the Nifty PSU Bank index.

While Bank of Maharashtra fares better than the rest on parameters, such as growth and asset quality, its fairly localised presence — restricted to Maharashtra — may