FDI in banks: More foreign money into banking system, so what?

The government is considering increasing the foreign direct investment limit to 100% for private lenders and 49% for public sector banks

A market expert on a television channel jokingly said the CNX Nifty Bank index could someday become bigger than the BSE Sensex. On Thursday morning, with gains of about 500 points it seemed as though the joke could become true, thanks to reports that the government is considering increasing the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit to 100 per cent for private lenders and 49 per cent for public sector banks (PSBs).
 
While the euphoria fizzled out over the course of trade, the points to ponder are who could benefit from this move and whether higher FDI can be the