The government on Friday unveiled a plan to merge 10 public sector banks (PSBs) into four, reducing the number of state-owned banks from 18 to 12, in a bid to create “next-generation” financial institutions with stronger balance sheets and bigger risk appetite.
Punjab National Bank (PNB) will take over Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) and United Bank of India (UBI) to become the country’s largest lender after State Bank of India (SBI) in terms of business. Canara Bank will subsume Syndicate Bank; Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank will merge with Union Bank of India; and Allahabad Bank will become part