Question : BANKING REFORMS

(a) whether the Government has called upon the banking sector to establish banks which rank among the best in the world;

(b) if so, the details thereof along with the present ranking position of Indian banks in the world;

(c) whether the bankers have gathered for a two day financial sector retreat `Gyan Sangam` at Pune recently to discuss long pending reforms and improving the health of Public Sector Banks (PSBs);

(d) if so, the details and discussions held at the retreat and outcome thereof;

(e) whether the Government has set up/proposes to set up a separate holding company to raise resources to meet capital needs of PSBs;

(f) if so, the details and the present status thereof along with the manner in which the PSBs are likely to be benefited from this move; and

(g) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to improve the working of banks particularly PSBs in this regard?

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI JAYANT SINHA)

(a) to (d): The financial health of Public Sector Banks in terms of asset quality, some causes of which are beyond control of banks also, is a cause of concern. It was in this background that Department of Financial Services organized a two-day Retreat for Banks and Financial Institutions called `Gyan Sangam` at National Institute of Banking Management (NIBM), Pune. The main purpose of organizing this event was to give an opportunity to CMDs and EDs of all the banks to express their opinion about what went wrong and what could be done to improve the situation. The participants of the Retreat were CMDs and EDs of Banks and other Financial Institutions under the DFS, as also all the Public Sector Insurance Companies.

The executives were grouped in to six different groups on themes of Leveraging technology to improve banking operations efficiency, Rethinking priority sector lending, Achieving universal financial inclusion, Improving risk management, asset quality and recovery, Strengthening human capital and HR practices and Consolidation and restructuring of PSBs for better efficiency and governance. The working groups discussed specific actions that banks could consider in the short term (over 12 months) & in the medium term (over 1-3 years). The group also provided suggestions for policy makers.

During the retreat, Public Sector Banks (PSBs) were exhorted to improve on their professionalism, efficiency and strive to be ranked among the top banks of the world.

position of Indian Banks among top 1000 World Banks is as under:

 S. No.	Name of the Bank	Ranking (By Asset Size) 1.	State Bank of India	64 2.	Bank of Baroda	149 3.	ICICI Bank	164 4.	Bank of India	165 5.	Punjab National Bank	174 6.	HDFC Bank	184 7	Canara Bank	192 8.	Axis Bank	233 9.	Union Bank of India	246 10.	IDBI Bank	262 11.	Central Bank of India	296 12.	Indian Overseas Bank	310 13.	Syndicate Bank	326 14.	UCO Bank	337 15.	Corporation Bank	350 16.	Allahabad Bank	354 17.	Oriental Bank of Commerce	356 18.	Indian Bank	387 19.	Andhra Bank	412 20.	Vijaya Bank	475 21.	Bank of Maharashtra	478 22.	United Bank of India	506 23.	Dena Bank	507 24.	Kotak Mahindra Bank	516 25.	Yes Bank	546 26.	Punjab & Sind Bank	580 27.	IndusInd Bank	606 28.	Jammu & Kashmir Bank	625 29.	Federal Bank	655 30.	South Indian Bank	755 31.	Karur Vysya Bank	778 32.	Karnataka Bank	805