The total net profit of private sector banks taken together was Rs 1,153 crore more than all public sector banks during 2014-15.
"Total net profit of private sector banks was Rs 38,976 crore for the year 2014-15 whereas for public sector banks, the figure is Rs 37,823.39 crore," Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said in written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
All the 27 public sector banks together have market share of about 70 per cent. There are about 20 private sector banks in the country.
According to estimates by the Reserve Bank of India, the market share of public sector banks is to decline from 80 per cent in 2000 to just over 60 per cent in 2025.
"The government is taking various steps to increase the efficiency of operations in public sector banks which include new governance structure at the board level, modification in guidelines to introduce professionalism at the board level and further revamping of the entire target setting," Sinha said.
In reply to another question, he said the percentage of government share holding has slightly declined in respect of 6 public sector banks during last 3 years due to raising of capital by these banks from market.
However, he said, government shareholding has increased in 15 PSBs and remained unchanged for 6 PSBs.
It is a fact that 12 PSBs are trading at 0.3-0.5 times their book value, he said.
The government has not offloaded its stock in any PSBs during last 3 years, he said, adding that there is no question of any loss.
However, the market price is highly dynamic as it is in correlation with the outlook of industry in addition to the performance of individual banks, he said.
The variation in market price will not instantly cause losses to the government or banks in real term but results in national loss in terms of market capitalisation, he added.
Replying to another question, Sinha said paternity leave to bank employees has been accepted under the 10th wage negotiation settlement signed between Indian Banks' Association and the Unions.
Male employees with less than two surviving children will be eligible for 15 days of paternity leave during confinement days of their wives and may be availed up to 15 days before or up to 6 months from the date of delivery of the child, he added.
