Banking Institutions and History

Punjab National Bank (PNB) has historically been the second-largest public sector bank in India after the State Bank of India. This ranking is based on total business and branch network.

R.M. Malla was the Chairman and Managing Director of IDBI Bank in 2011. He oversaw the bank's operations during that fiscal year.

As of March 2008, the State Bank of India (SBI) held the largest share of agricultural loan outstandings in India, reflecting its massive rural banking network and mandate.

In 2008, the State Bank of India (SBI) revised its debt-swap scheme, which was designed to help farmers pay off high-interest loans from private moneylenders by providing them with lower-interest bank loans.

The Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) was the primary institution approached for financing the agricultural land acquisition deals in 2008.

Iran’s Central Bank has opened an account with India’s UCO Bank to facilitate the payment for oil payments issues.

The State Bank of India has won the prestigious Asian Banker Achievement Award for being the strongest bank in Asia Pacific region, instituted by the Qatar Financial Centre Authority and the Asian Banker magazine on May 10 2010.

Bank of Rajasthan (BoR), one of the oldest private sector banks in the country, on May 18, 2010 announced that it would merge with the largest private sector bank, ICICI Bank. P K Tayal is the main promoter of BoR. BoR under Tayals has been under regulatory scanner for a while. In February, RBI slapped a fine of Rs 25 lakh on the bank following violations related to know-your customer (KYC) guidelines.

UK   based    multinational   bank   Standard Chartered PLC raised Rs 2700 crore through its Indian Depository Receipts (IDR) issue in May 2010. The bank that has presence in 70 countries across the world has had operations in India for the last 152 years with its first branch in Kolkata in 1858.  India accounted for 20 per cent of Standard Chartered's profits in 2009 calender year.

Bank of Hindustan was the first bank of India.

There are 19 nationalised banks at present. 14 were nationalised in 1969 and 6 in 1980 but in 1993, one bank was merged.

Small Scale Industries Development Bank of India was established for the development of small industries. NABARD was formed for the development of agriculture and ICICI and IDBI for industrial development.

All others are public sector banks.

Deepak Parekh is a prominent Indian businessman who is best known for his long association with HDFC (Housing Development Finance Corporation), where he served as Chairman.

The Avadh Commercial Bank, established in 1881, is recognized as the first bank in India having limited liability and managed by Indians.