Nationalization and its Aftermath
In 1955, the Government nationalised Imperial Bank of India with
extensive banking facilities on a large scale especially in rural and
semi-urban areas. State Bank of India acted as the principal agent
of RBI handling banking transactions of the Union and State
Governments all over the country. Seven banks forming
subsidiary of State Bank of India was nationalised in 1960. In
another drastic measure at the initiative of the then Prime
Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi, fourteen major commercial banks
166 bank
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in the country were nationalized in 1969. After the second phase
of nationalization in 1980, as much as 80% of the banking
segment in India came under Government ownership. In the
third phase of the history of the Indian banking sector products
and facilities offered by the banks rose to greater levels. In 1991,
under the chairmanship of M Narasimham, a committee was
set up by his name which worked for the liberalisation of banking
practices. Today the country is also flooded with several foreign
banks and their ATM stations. Phone banking and net banking