<p>Former Union Finance Minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday said that he is in favour of on-going drive of bank mergers.</p>.<p>“I believe that India should have bigger banks. Our banks are pygmies in front of banks of the world. So it's not a bad idea to consolidate the banks to have to say eight big banks. I support public sector banks, but we must have big bank,” Chidambaram said here on the launch of his book -- Undaunted: Saving the Idea of India.</p>.<p>The current government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has embarked upon the process of merger of various public sector banks.</p>.<p>As part of the merger drive Bengaluru-headquartered Vijaya Bank, Bank of Baroda and Dena Bank are set to form a merged entity by April 1 this year. The merged entity, with total assets of over Rs14 lakh crore ($190 billion), will be India’s third-largest lender behind the State Bank of India and HDFC Bank.</p>.<p>However, the employees of the Vijaya Bank are up in arms against the merger, as according to them it will club the bank with loss-ridden Bank of Baroda and Dena Bank. They also allege that none of the employees were consulted before taking the decision for the merger.</p>.<p>Prior to this, the government had gone with consolidation nation’s largest lender State Bank of India with five associate banks,</p>.<p>The PSBs off late have been reeling under stress after asset quality review opened a bagful of bad loans in the state-owned banks.</p>
<p>Former Union Finance Minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday said that he is in favour of on-going drive of bank mergers.</p>.<p>“I believe that India should have bigger banks. Our banks are pygmies in front of banks of the world. So it's not a bad idea to consolidate the banks to have to say eight big banks. I support public sector banks, but we must have big bank,” Chidambaram said here on the launch of his book -- Undaunted: Saving the Idea of India.</p>.<p>The current government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has embarked upon the process of merger of various public sector banks.</p>.<p>As part of the merger drive Bengaluru-headquartered Vijaya Bank, Bank of Baroda and Dena Bank are set to form a merged entity by April 1 this year. The merged entity, with total assets of over Rs14 lakh crore ($190 billion), will be India’s third-largest lender behind the State Bank of India and HDFC Bank.</p>.<p>However, the employees of the Vijaya Bank are up in arms against the merger, as according to them it will club the bank with loss-ridden Bank of Baroda and Dena Bank. They also allege that none of the employees were consulted before taking the decision for the merger.</p>.<p>Prior to this, the government had gone with consolidation nation’s largest lender State Bank of India with five associate banks,</p>.<p>The PSBs off late have been reeling under stress after asset quality review opened a bagful of bad loans in the state-owned banks.</p>