Government mulling next round of PSU bank mergersa

New Delhi: After the merger of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with Bank of Baroda, the Centre now gears up for the next round of public sector bank mergers, and will include this proposal as part of the vision document of the next government, a senior finance ministry official said. NITI Aayog, along with other line ministries, are in the process of designing an agenda for the first 100 days of the next government. Bank mergers are likely to be at the top of the agenda. In an internal meeting, the government shortlisted Punjab National Bank as the lead entity for merging smaller banks.  The government is likely to evaluate different merger scenarios to finalise on a single model which helps all the stakeholders involved. Punjab National Bank is likely to be kept as the lead entity in the next round of merger,” one of the officials told Cogencis.