NEW DELHI (WION) — The merger of banks was announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today, while addressing a press conference. Ten big public sector banks (PSBs) merged into four. India will now have 12 Public Sector Banks from 27 in 2017.

The Minister announced major initiatives and steps to accelerate the economic growth of India including the merger of several banks under the Bank Consolidation plan. The banks which are being merged together are Punjab National Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, United Bank of India, Indian Bank, Allahabad Bank, Canara Bank, Syndicate Bank, Union Bank of India, Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank.

Till now, there were 18 Public Sector Banks. After today’s announcement, India will be left with only 12 Public Sector Banks. There were 27 public sector banks in 2017. Only six banks showcased profitability in the 4^th Quarter of 2018-19.

This is not the first time that the Government is merging the banks together. Earlier, under the Banks Consolidation plan itself, the Indian Government had merged all the entities of State Bank of India into one and merged Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank as one single entity. The merger of these banks is aimed at making India a $5 tln economy.