Maharashtra govt weighing merger of PMC Bank with MSC Bank: report
06 Dec 2019
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The Maharashtra government is exploring the possibility of merging Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank with Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank, in an effort to ease the pain of its customers, reports cited minister Jayant Patel as saying.
There is, however, no certainty that such a merger is possible when the Reserve Bank of India has initiated the process of sale of assets of PMC Bank to pay depositors’ money.
“There is a forensic audit, which is underway and the final report is expected by the end of this month. Simultaneously, PMC Bank, with the help of professional valuers, is assessing the realisable value of assets which have been mortgaged by the companies and those identified by the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police and the Enforcement Directorate,” Shaktikanta Das, RBI Governor, said on Thursday.
Patil who was recently sworn in as a minister in the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance government, said, “We want to assure PMC Bank depositors that the government stands with them. The merger of the two banks will definitely help small depositors.”
“I spoke to the MSC Bank chairman the day before yesterday. We have suggested to MSC Bank that they merge PMC Bank with it so that the poorest depositors get relief,” Jayant Patil, minister in the state cabinet and president of the NCP’s Maharashtra unit, said on Thursday.
However, it is not clear how the merger will happen while it is under RBI administration.
According to the RBI governor, the forensic auditors’ report is expected by the end of this month and based on the final number (on the realisable value of assets) RBI will decide on the further course of action. The RBI and PMC are currently engaged in recovering the banks’ loans, he added.
The RBI had imposed withdrawal restrictions on account-holders after it found alleged irregularities to the tune of Rs4,355 crore due to diversion of money to infrastructure firm HDIL.
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