Public sector banks shut 4,093 branches in last five financial years
A maximum of 2,564 branches were closed in FY22 and 700 in the following financial year, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, quoting RBI data
New Delhi, Aug 11 (PTI) Public sector banks have opened 6,255 branches, while they closed 4,093 branches in the last five financial years, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.
A maximum of 2,564 branches were closed in FY22 and 700 in the following financial year, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, quoting RBI data.
Subsequently, these banks closed 556, 146 and 127 branches in FY24, FY25 and FY26, respectively, he said.
With regard to opening of branches, he said a maximum of 1,967 branches were opened in the last financial year and 1,823 were opened in FY25.
As many as 1,057 branches were opened in FY24, and 932 in the previous year. The lowest -- 476 -- were opened in the financial year 2021-22.
Replying to another question, the minister said the total number of wilful defaulters declared, company-wise, along with the outstanding amount against each is not maintained by the RBI.
However, he said, as per inputs received from PSBs, outstanding amount of Rs 25 lakh and above, owed by 15,930 wilful defaulters, as on June 30, 2026 was Rs 2,85,015 crore.
In response to a separate question, Chaudhary said the total amount of unclaimed deposits, transferred by banks to Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund was Rs 90,545 crore as of June 30, 2025, and Rs 98, 073 crore as of January 31, 2026, as per the RBI.
Replying to a question on ratings, Chaudhary said India has received various positive sovereign credit rating actions from international credit rating agencies, including rating upgrades, outlook revisions and rating affirmations with stable or positive outlooks during the last three financial years.
These included the upgrade of India's sovereign rating by Morningstar DBRS from BBB (low) to BBB in May 2025, by S&P Global Ratings from BBB- to BBB in August 2025, and by Rating and Investment Information, Inc. (R&I), Japan from BBB to BBB+ in September 2025, he said.
"In addition, S&P Global Ratings and Morningstar DBRS revised India's outlook to Positive in May 2024. Other rating agencies, including Moody's Ratings, Fitch Ratings, Japan Credit Rating Agency and CareEdge Global, reaffirmed India's sovereign ratings with a stable outlook during this period," he said.
The Ministry of Finance has taken several measures to mitigate the impact of the West Asia crisis on the Indian economy and various sectors, he said.
"These include exemption from customs duty on 40 critical petrochemical products to ensure adequate domestic availability. A one-time relief measure has also been provided to eligible Special Economic Zone (SEZ) units to enable the sale of manufactured goods in the Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) at concessional customs duty rates," he said.
Force majeure-related relief measures have been enabled in government procurement contracts wherever applicable, he said, adding, the government has approved the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme 5.0 to facilitate an additional credit flow of Rs 2.55 lakh crore to businesses affected by the conflict-induced disruptions.
Further, the Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool has been launched with a sovereign guarantee to facilitate uninterrupted maritime insurance coverage, he added. PTI