Private sector lenders, including Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and RBL, have taken a small stake in the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) as part of process to broad-base its shareholding.
NPCI, the umbrella organisation for all retail payments system in the country, has broad-based its shareholding base to 56 banks, from 10 banks earlier. A P Hota, managing director and chief executive officer, NPCI, in a statement said : "Being the payments system utility for all the banks in the country, it was a natural progression. It was also a requirement from the Reserve Bank of India. The expansion will make NPCI a truly community-owned institution."
The 46 new banks comprise 13 from the public sector, 15 private ones, a foreign bank, 10 multi-state cooperative banks and seven regional rural banks (RRBs). Among the multi-state cooperative banks are Saraswat Bank and Cosmos Bank.
The 10 promoter banks comprised six from the public sector (State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India and Union Bank of India); two private ones (ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank); and two foreign banks (Citibank and HSBC).
