Page 5 - Banking Finance December 2022

BANK UPDATE

Banking

News

SBI's personal loan portfo- post privatisation will be considered as of papers, such as third party agree-
'public shareholding', the finance min- ments, home loan agreements, etc.
lio crosses Rs. 5 lakh crore
istry said. An 'appropriate dispensation'
National E-governance Services (NESL)
mark for the new owner to achieve minimum
MD & CEO Debajyoti Ray Chaudhuri,
SBI said it has surpassed the Rs 5 lakh public shareholding (MPS) over an ex- speaking at the Indian Banks
crore mark in the personal banking tended period is under consideration Association's banking technology con-
advances as on November 30. and the winning bidder will have no ference in Mumbai, said: "Recently,
restriction on undertaking corporate
"A series of tactical measures and digi- MeitY has issued a notification which
restructuring of the subsidiaries of IDBI
tal initiatives undertaken over the past allows home loans to be brought un-
Bank, it added.
few years played a crucial role in our der the digital documentation cat-
journey to the Rs 5 lakh crore under These clarifications are part of the re- egory. We are still working on that, but
personal banking advances (other than sponses by the Department of Invest- that is now a distinct possibility. With
housing)," said Dinesh Khara, chair- ment and Public Asset Management vendor and supplier agreements being
man, SBI. (DIPAM), under the finance ministry, to brought in, the possibilities are end-
potential investors' pre-EoI queries. less. I can visualise a situation when
The lender marked the first Rs 1 lakh
any contract can be available in demat
crore mark in January 2015, followed The government had on October 7 in-
form."
by Rs 2 lakh crore in January 2018, Rs vited bids for privatising IDBI Bank and
3 lakh crore in August 2020, when said that it together with LIC will sell a
Covid-19 was at its peak, and the Rs 4 total of 60.72 per cent stake in the fi- Foreign funds can own
lakh mark in November 2021. nancial institution.
51% in IDBI Bank: Govt.
Personal banking advances mainly The government said it will allow a
Home loans may soon be
comprise personal loan, pension loan,
consortium of foreign funds and invest-
auto loan, education loans, personal- paperless ment companies to own over 51 per
gold loan, and other personal loan
The Ministry of Electronics & Informa- cent in IDBI bank, clarifying that for-
products.
tion Technology's (MeitY) recent push eign ownership criteria was for new
to digitise several new types of con- private banks and were not applicable
IDBI to remain 'private
tracts may soon make paperless home on existing ones.
bank' loans a reality, according to experts. This comes ahead of the December 16
IDBI Bank will continue to operate as The conventional home loan applica- deadline for potential bidders to sub-
an 'Indian private sector bank' after its tion process is seen as tedious, with mit expressions of interest (EoIs) for
strategic sale and the government's multiple visits to the branch. The docu- picking up majority stake in the private
residual 15 per cent stake in the lender mentation process also involves stacks sector lender.

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