Parliament on Monday approved the Industrial Development Bank of India Repeal Bill to enable its conversion into a universal bank with Finance Minister Jaswant Singh committing to pump in Rs 2,500 crores (Rs 25 billion) over the next five years to fulfill its recaptilisation requirement.
The Bill already approved by the Lok Sabha was passed by the Rajya Sabha after incorporating vital recommendations made by the Parliamentary Standing Committee including giving the newly converted bank a five-year holiday from maintaining statutory liquidity ratio. Singh assured that it would continue to play its development finance role.
The finance minister also allayed fears of the members saying there would be no dilution of government share holding in the institution below 51 per cent if it was not cleared by the Parliamentary Standing Committee, which is presently scrutinising it.