Banking Excellence & Financial Innovation

A Day of Strike: Public Sector Bank Employees Protest Against Consolidation in India

Public sector bank employees in India went on strike, impacting the services of approximately 80,000 bank branches. The strike was in response to potential consolidation of public sector banks through mergers. This follows a previous merger in 1993, when the New Bank of India merged with Punjab National Bank. Further consolidation has been announced in recent budgets, with the goal of reducing the number of public sector banks from 27 to between eight and ten. Nonetheless, concerns regarding the levels of non-performing assets at these banks have led some to question the timing of these consolidations.