SBI officers to oppose stake transfer

Unions of the State Bank of India (SBI) have decided to oppose the government's decision to acquire the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) stake in the country's largest commercial bank.

The government has decided to acquire RBI's 59.73% stake in SBI in a cashless transaction to separate ownership and regulatory functions of the banking regulator.

The government will acquire the RBI in SBI, estimated at Rs 40,000 crore based on the market price of Rs 1,300 share price, by June this year.

However, RBI being a government institution, will pay back whatever it gets for the transfer of its stake, in three institutions.

The transaction will also need a approval to the SBI Amendment Bill that is currently before the Parliament.

"There is no need to transfer RBI stake in SBI to the government fold as it will not serve any useful purpose," G D Nadaf, general secretary, All India State Bank Officers' Federation, said.

"The move is being taken by the imaginary problem shown by the Narsimhan Committee, which had also proposed massive consolidation among the banks," he said.

As part of its efforts to convey their ill feelings about the move, the unions have already written to the government.

Next week both the officers and staff association of SBI would send another joint communique to the government stating their reservations about the stake transfer, Nadaf said.