Govt to hold majority stake in state-owned banks

Chennai: The government will continue to hold at least 51 per cent stake in the banks and insurance companies it owns, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said while presenting the Union Budget for 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

However, citing the average public float in listed entities - which is less than 15 per cent - the Finance Minister said the government proposed to increase the non-promoter holding in listed companies.

Mukherjee also praised the late prime minister Indira Gandhi for nationalising bank and insurance companies, which insulated the Indian financial sector from the recent global slowdown.