Heartbreak for PSUs as Jaitley says no to big capital infusion

The government will infuse Rs 10,000 crore in public sector banks in the next fiscal and more will be provided if required, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday.

“As per the Indradhanush plan, the public sector banks will be provided with Rs 10,000 crore in the next fiscal. Additional allocation would be made if required,” he said while presenting Budget 2017-18.

Under Indradhanush roadmap announced in 2015, the government will infuse Rs 70,000 crore in state banks over four years while they will have to raise a further Rs 1.1 lakh crore from the markets to meet their capital requirement in line with global risk norms, known as Basel—III.

In line with the blueprint, public sector banks has been given Rs 25,000 crore in each fiscal, 2015—16 and 2016—17. Besides, Rs 10,000 crore each would be infused in 2017—18 and 2018—19.

The government has already announced fund infusion of Rs 22,915 crore, out of the Rs 25,000 crore earmarked for 13 PSBs for the current fiscal. Of this, 75 per cent has already been released to them.

The first tranche was announced with the objective of enhancing their lending operations and enabling them to raise more money from the market.

• Union Budget 2017-18: Complete Coverage