The Finance Ministry has scheduled an important meeting on April 17, 2025, with the heads of all Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to review their performance during the last financial year and to set new goals for key government schemes for the upcoming year 2025–26.
This meeting will be chaired by Mr. M. Nagaraju, Secretary of Financial Services. As per the sources, the focus will be on evaluating how well the banks have performed in terms of profitability, loan recovery, and customer outreach. The government is especially interested in reviewing progress under flagship schemes such as the Jan Dhan Yojana, Mudra Scheme, and PM SVANidhi, which aim to support financial inclusion by providing banking services and credit to low-income individuals and small businesses.
The past year has been particularly strong for public sector banks. Between April and December 2024, PSBs recorded their highest-ever net profit of ₹1.29 lakh crore, marking an impressive 31.3% increase compared to the previous year. This shows that the banks were able to earn more while managing their expenses effectively. Their total operating profit for the nine-month period was ₹2.20 lakh crore, indicating overall financial strength.
In addition to strong profits, banks have also shown improvement in asset quality. The Net NPA (Non-Performing Assets) ratio, which represents the share of loans that are not being repaid, has come down to 0.59%, meaning the amount of bad loans has significantly reduced. In total, bad loans stood at around ₹61,252 crore—much lower than in previous years. This is a sign that banks are recovering loans better and taking care of their finances more responsibly.
Moreover, the banks have achieved solid business growth. Their total business, which includes loans and deposits combined, grew by 11% year-on-year. Deposit growth alone was 9.8%, and the total business size of public sector banks reached a huge figure of ₹242.27 lakh crore. These numbers reflect strong trust among customers and healthy demand for banking services.
This upcoming meeting will play a key role in shaping the strategy for the next financial year. The government wants to ensure that more people, especially those in rural and underserved areas, are brought into the formal banking system. Through this review and planning session, the Finance Ministry hopes to strengthen the role of PSBs in implementing welfare schemes, supporting economic growth, and making banking services accessible to all.
