Capital infusion: Govt infuses Rs 10,882 crore in four PSU banks

The government today infused Rs 10,882 crore in four public sector banks, including UCO Bank and Syndicate Bank, as part of Rs 28,615 crore capital infusion to be done in about half a dozen public sector lenders. 

The bank has received Rs 3,074 crore in the equity by way of preferential allotment on Monday, UCO Bank said in a regulatory filing. Besides, Bank of Maharashtra got Rs 4,498 crore, Syndicate Bank Rs 1,632 crore and Central Bank of India Rs 1,678 crore.

The government has already announced infusion of Rs 10,086 crore in Bank of India, Rs 5,500 crore in Oriental Bank of Commerce and Rs 2,159 in United Bank of India. 

The government pumped in Rs 28,615 crore into seven public sector banks (PSBs) through recapitalisation bonds. 

The government had earlier announced an infusion of Rs 65,000 crore in PSBs in 2018-19, of which Rs 23,000 crore has already been disbursed, while Rs 42,000 crore is remaining. Earlier this month, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government would put an additional Rs 41,000 crore in PSBs over and above what was announced earlier.

On December 20, the government sought Parliament's approval for infusion of an additional Rs 41,000 crore. The recapitalisation, the finance minister said, would enhance the lending capacity of PSBs and help them come out of the Reserve Bank of India's Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework.

Eleven out of the total 21 PSBs are under the RBI's PCA framework, which imposes lending restrictions on weak banks. These are Allahabad Bank, United Bank of India, Corporation Bank, IDBI Bank, UCO Bank, Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Dena Bank and Bank of Maharashtra.