No proposal to merge public sector general insurance companies: MoS Karad

The government on Tuesday said there is no proposal as of now to merge public sector general insurance companies.

There are four general insurance companies -- New India Assurance Company, National Insurance Company Limited (NICL), United India Insurance Company Limited (UIICL) and Oriental Insurance Company Limited (OICL).

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat K Karad said there is no proposal under consideration of the government at present for merger of public sector general insurance companies.

In a bid to foster blockchain technology for providing various financial services, banks have put in place Indian Banks' Blockchain Infrastructure Company Private Limited (IBBIC), Karad said in another written reply.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has informed that it has been pro-active in providing guidance for development of blockchain-based application through its new regulatory sandbox environment, he said.

"State Bank of India (SBI) and Canara Bank are part of a company called Indian Banks' Blockchain Infrastructure Company Private Limited (IBBIC) for using blockchain technology for providing various financial services. SBI has informed that as a part of IBBIC development, it has initiated steps to incorporate blockchain technology in trade related transactions," he said.

Further, he said, SBI has been onboarded on a blockchain enabled platform, for exchanging payment related compliance queries.

Canara Bank has informed that it had formed a small technology innovation team, which is working on identifying the potential use cases best suited to banking operations, he added.

Replying to another question, Karad said percentage of total non-performing assets (NPA) has witnessed rise since 2018-19 under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY).

During the 2018-19, the total NPA against disbursement stood at 2.51 per cent (Rs 17,712.63 crore). This increased to 2.53 per cent or Rs 17,712.63 crore in 2019-20 and 3.61 per cent or Rs 34,090.34 crore in 2020-21, he said.

At the end of March 31, 2021, more than 16.92 lakh Mudra cards have been issued, he said in another reply.

As on March 31, 2021, he said, Rs 5.81 lakh crore was disbursed by Public Sector Banks (including Regional Rural Banks) under PMMY with current outstanding amount of Rs 1.81 lakh crore. The repayment ratio thus works out to approx 69 per cent, he added.