The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given its in-principle approval for the Central Government to set up the country’s first all-women bank.
The proposed all-women bank will be the first ever commercial bank to be floated by the Central Government.
It is expected to have a pan-India presence with six branches to start-with. The headquarters for the all-women bank is likely to come up at New Delhi.
The Central Government will initially pump in Rs 1,000 crore as paid-up capital of the bank.
The name of the all-women bank is yet to be firmed up even as a committee formed to prepare a blueprint for the bank has submitted its report.
None of the existing public sector banks were actually floated by the Central Government. They were all acquired by the Central Government when these banks were nationalised.
The all-women bank is expected to start operations from November 2013, Finance Minister P Chidambaram had said recently.
Chidambaram had in his 2013-14 budget speech proposed the setting up of country’s first all-women bank.
Initially, the all-women bank is likely to start with at least one branch in each major region of this country – North, South, West, East, Centre and the North-east.
The proposed bank will lend mostly to women and women-run businesses besides providing support to women Self Help Groups (SHGs).
It will predominately employ women and take deposits from both men and women.