More Stories

Informist, Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2025

By Priyasmita Dutta

NEW DELHI – Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to chair a meeting with chiefs of regional rural banks in the first week of May, days after the consolidation of 26 rural banks into 11 comes into effect, a senior government official said. The finance ministry has notified the amalgamation of several regional rural banks across the country as part of the government's 'One state, one regional rural bank' policy.

After the amalgamation, the number of regional rural banks in the country will come down to 28 from the current 43. Each state, except Goa and Sikkim, will have one regional rural bank from May 1. The Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry will also have one regional rural bank each. 

According to the official, Sitharaman will likely discuss the scope of operations and growth of the regional rural banks, along with taking stock of the progress of financial inclusion schemes. Chiefs of sponsor banks will also attend the meeting, the official added. 

After the meeting with regional rural banks, Department of Financial Services Secretary M. Nagaraju will chair a meeting of the heads of public sector banks to review the financial results of the first nine months of 2024-25 (Apr-Mar) and the provisional results for the March quarter. 

The meeting with PSU banks – earlier scheduled for Friday – was postponed as many bankers are busy with their board meetings, the official said. 

The net profit of PSU banks in the first nine months of FY25 rose 31.3% to INR 1.29 trillion, the highest ever for the period. The aggregate deposits of the 12 public sector banks rose 9.8% and credit grew 12.4% during this period. The growth was led by a 16.6% rise in retail credit, a 12.9% increase in agricultural credit, and a 12.5% rise in micro, small and medium enterprises credit, the finance ministry had said. 

The financial services department holds review meetings of PSU banks every quarter.  End

Edited by Saji George Titus

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt Ltd.

Informist Media Tel +91 (11) 4220-1000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2025. All rights reserved.