Centre Gave SBI Rs 8,800 Crore Without Lender Asking For It, Says Auditor
NDTV
The department under the finance ministry did not conduct assessment of the capital requirement as per its own standard practice before recapitalisation, as per the Compliance Audit Report.
The Department of Financial Services (DFS) had given Rs 8,800 crore to State Bank of India as part of recapitalisation exercise without the country's biggest lender asking for such funds in FY18, a CAG report presented in Parliament on Monday said.
The department under the finance ministry did not conduct assessment of the capital requirement as per its own standard practice before recapitalisation, as per the Compliance Audit Report No. 1 of 2023 of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Union Government (Economic and Service Ministries - Civil) for the year ended March 2021.
"DFS infused Rs 8,800 crore into SBI in 2017-18 for credit growth considering it the largest PSB in the country even though there was no demand. DFS did not conduct assessment of the capital requirement as per its own standard practice before recapitalisation," it said.
The report further said DFS considered cushion over and above the norms prescribed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) while recapitalising PSBs.