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The government might convert its hybrid instruments into equity shares of some public sector banks, to enable the lenders to meet capital requirements under Basel-III norms.
A decision to convert perpetual non-cumulative preference shares held by the government in Indian Bank, UCO Bank and Vijaya Bank into equity shares is likely to be taken at a meeting of the Cabinet on Thursday, officials said.
Both kinds of shares are part of Tier-1 capital of banks. However, equity shares are core equity within Tier-1 capital, for which Basel-III has stricter norms than hybrid instruments.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs might also take up a proposal to enhance security for women in public transport.
The roads ministry has mooted a proposal to install closed-circuit televisions in buses and global positioning devices in auto-rickshaws to make these safer for women travellers.
The funding would come from the Rs 1,000-crore Nirbhaya Fund. The Fund was announced by the government in this year’s budget for safety of women.
