The government may not bring the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021 - which aims to privatise two public sector banks (PSBs) - during the ongoing Winter session of Parliament, as it plans to have a relook at some key aspects related to the entire exercise before going ahead with the move.
Sources aware of the development have indicated that the current market scenario is not being seen as conducive for bringing the legislation and discussions are likely to be held with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) before a final decision is taken on it.
The economic impact of Coronavirus pandemic and the rising threat of the Omicron variant are also other important factors which are learnt to have influenced government's thinking.
The Winter session will end on December 23.
Also, while the initial thought within the government was to sell two PSBs to private entities by divesting its entire stakes in them, there is a likelihood that government may like to keep 26 per cent share apiece in these banks with itself and sell off the remaining share to different entities, sources in the know pointed out.
Though the proposed legislation was mentioned in the list of bills, which the government aims to bring during the ongoing Winter session, for introduction and passing, sources said that the finance ministry plans to go back to the drawing board and take the views of RBI on these aspects, before moving further.
Another key reason behind postponing the bill is the huge unrest among lakhs of employees working in PSBs across the country, who from today went on a two-day strike, protesting the government's decision to privatise two state-owned banks.
Source -NDTV
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