Centre to hold national review of RRBs' financials, PSL on January 30
New Delhi, Jan 20, 2026
The Union government will review the financial performance, financial inclusion initiatives, and priority sector lending of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) at a national-level meeting scheduled for January 30, 2026, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The meeting assumes significance as it will be the first high-level review after the fourth round of consolidation of RRBs, which came into effect on May 1.
The meeting will be chaired by M Nagaraju, Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance, the sources said.
Under the latest phase of consolidation, the number of RRBs has been reduced to 28 from 43.
On May 1, a single state-owned RRB became operational following the consolidation of 15 RRBs across 11 states, a move aimed at achieving better operational efficiency and cost rationalisation, officials said.
The sources further said that the Department of Financial Services meeting will assess action taken on decisions of earlier RRB review meetings, review key financial parameters of RRBs, examine the implementation of financial inclusion (FI) schemes, and take stock of RRBs’ performance under priority sector lending (PSL).
The consolidation of RRBs has been carried out in multiple phases over the years. In Phase I (FY2006–FY2010), the number of RRBs was reduced from 196 to 82. This was followed by Phase II (FY2013–FY2015), which brought the count down from 82 to 56, and Phase III, under which the number was further reduced from 56 to 43, officials said.
Currently, the Centre holds a 50 per cent stake in RRBs, while 35 per cent and 15 per cent are held by the concerned sponsor banks and state governments, respectively. Even after stake dilution, the combined shareholding of the Central government and sponsor public sector banks cannot fall below 51 per cent, as provided under the amended law, the sources added.
Senior stakeholders invited to the meeting include the chairman of State Bank of India (SBI); managing directors (MDs) and chief executive officers (CEOs) of sponsor banks; the executive director of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI); the chairman of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD); the chairman and managing director (CMD) of the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI); and chairpersons of all RRBs.
[The Business Standard]
