A national bank may also be created by consolidating a strong southern bank with a strong bank from the east, top finance ministry officials said. The State Bank of India had merged with five associate banks to create a behemoth with some $37 trillion in assets earlier this year. The boards of SBI's five associate banks - State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Hyderabad - had passed a resolution seeking the merger last year. "We are conscious that we should not merge a weak bank with another bank in a manner that will pull down the profitability of the larger bank. Banking sources said there is a suggestion that the number of state-run banks should be brought down to a dozen.

Source: The Telegraph May 02, 2017 19:54 UTC