Forced marriage

Merger of public sector banks can be tricky

There appears to be a growing consensus among policymakers about greater consolidation in the public sector banking space through mergers. As an idea, it’s nothing new as there have been several rounds of discussions on mergers of state-run banks in India at periodic intervals. But the move has gained momentum of late as many of the public sector banks (PSBs), which together have a 70 per cent market share, are hugely stressed. While Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the government will not wait any longer for mergers and has asked the NITI Aayog to give its recommendations on the