India's aspiration needs 20 SBI-sized institutions: FM Sitharaman

Sitharaman said the government would work with the Reserve Bank for execution of the bank privatisation plan announced in the Budget

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said the country required at least 20 institutions of the size of the nation’s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), to be able to meet its aspirations.
 
Speaking about the Budget’s other proposals, Sitharaman said the idea to have a development finance institution (DFI) had internalised learnings from the IDBI episode, and added that there would be private sector play as well in the space, which will force the state-run DFI to be efficient.
 
She rejected the Opposition’s charge of “selling family assets” through the Budget stress on privatisation, terming it