The finance ministry is open to providing capital support for facilitating consolidation among state-owned banks, which are reeling under mounting bad loans, official sources said. “First, the merger proposal should come from the board,” said a source, who did not want to be named. Sources said the government is keen that at least one merger proposal reaches a logical conclusion by the end of the current fiscal, which is next March-end. State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Patiala (SBP) and State Bank of Travancore (SBT), besides BMB, were merged with SBI. SBI first merged State Bank of Saurashtra with itself in 2008.

Source: Hindustan Times August 27, 2017 09:33 UTC