India will have 8-10 state-owned banks after consolidation: Fin Min's Sinha

[MUMBAI] India's junior Finance Minister Jayant Sinha said on Friday the country would have 8 to 10 "very competitive" state-owned banks after an ongoing consolidation phase, a sharp reduction from the 27 currently in existence.

"When the dust settles, I think we will have maybe 8 or 10 very competitive banks," Mr Sinha said at a symposium on Fin Tech in Bengaluru on Friday. "Some of them are going to be large-scale global players. Some of them are going to be differentiated banks."

The comments come as state-owned banks have been struggling under a weight of bad loans.

Earlier this month, State Bank of India said it would merge operations of five of its subsidiary banks with itself, marking the first move of consolidation in the sector.

REUTERS