IFCI to merge with PSU bank

New Delhi: IFCI Ltd, may cease to exist after April 1. The Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, yesterday announced "IFCI is being restructured through transfer of its impaired assets to an asset reconstruction company and its merger into another large public sector bank," he said. He added that as a run up the institution has implemented a voluntary retirement scheme to facilitate the restructuring.

Mr Singh said that the Government would also attempt to finalise all steps to convert IDBI into a bank by the same target date of April 1.

"Steps to restructure IDBI by converting it into a bank are already in hand. However, in accordance with the mandate given by Parliament, the Ministry of Finance will preserve and strengthen IDBI''s role as a development financial institution.

The Bill to restructure IDBI and to convert it into a bank was passed by Parliament in the recently concluded winter session. The Finance Minister has assured the Lok Sabha that its development financial institution characteristics would be preserved and had also given the assurance that the Government holding in the institution would not come down below 51 per cent.