Kerala Tradition & Fascinating Destinations 2014 Kerala Tradition & Destinations 2014 | Page 426

Bank of India was established in 1935. During the first phase of the Indian
banking industry, the growth was very slow and banks also experienced
periodic failures between 1913 and 1948. There were approximately 1100
banks, mostly small. To streamline the functioning and activities of
commercial banks, the Government of India came up with The Banking
Companies Act, 1949 which was later changed to Banking Regulation Act
1949. Reserve Bank of India was vested with extensive powers for the
supervision of banking in India as the Central Banking Authority.
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
in the country were nationalized in 1969. After the second phase of
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BANK|TRADITION AND DESTINATIONS