Govt should privatise national banks: Adi Godrej

Godrej group chairman Adi Godrej today said the government should privatise public sector banks to ensure better management in the wake of PNB fraud case.
The Godrej group patriarch also said privatisation should not be restricted to only banks but also include other public sector enterprises.
"First of all, I don't think so many banks (needed) in the public sector. I think, we are too big a public sector in our country and I believe that they should privatise it," Adi Godrej told media on the sidelines of the AIMA summit.
He further said: "The good thing is that now they are going to privatise Air India. I think that privatising the public sector banks would be a good move."

According to him, private banks are better managed and so far no big scams have come up so far in that sector.
"I have not heard of any major scams by the private bank. There is always something wrong going in companies from time to time but it's always more controlled in the private sector if at all and much better managed," Godrej said.

He also called for privatisation, not just in public sector banks, but in the overall public sector.
"The government should not only disinvest but actively privatise. The Vajpayee government has done lot in privatisation, which has turned very successful. So I hope this government does so too," Godrej added.

When asked whether there were lapses on behalf of RBI in the entire PNB episode, Godrej said, "I do not think so. I am not an expert on the subject but I do not think that there was a major lapse on behalf of RBI.