India to infuse US$3.4b in state-run banks: finance ministry

[NEW DELHI] India will infuse 229.15 billion rupees (S$4.60 billion) in 13 state-run banks in the fiscal year ending March 2017, the finance ministry said in a Twitter post on Tuesday.

New Delhi has plans to inject 700 billion rupees in state lenders over four years to March 2019. For the current fiscal year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has budgeted 250 billion rupees for bank recapitalisation.

State-run banks, however, face much bigger capital requirements to meet Basel III rules and cover for a surge in bad loans. Rating agency Fitch estimates they would need US$90 billion in capital infusion.

REUTERS