India expects state banks to raise $12.3 bln to boost balance sheets

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The government expects public sector banks would be able to raise 800 billion rupees ($12.31 billion) from the markets to strengthen their balance sheets, Financial Services Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said on Friday.

Adhia also announced the appointment of new heads of five banks, including two from the private sector, as part of fresh measures to improve the performance of the state banks, which are struggling with rising bad loans.

Indian banks may need up to 1 trillion rupees to manage the risks from their exposure to debt-stressed firms, Fitch's Indian unit said this month, on top of the tens of billions of dollars in capital they need to comply with global banking rules.

($1 = 64.9700 rupees)

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar and Nidhi Verma; Writing by Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)