The Indian government nationalized 14 banks on July 19, 1969, marking the first annual Bank Nationalized Day. The term "public sector banks" is used to describe the vast majority of nationalized banks in India. Nationalization, as defined by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is the process by which the government seizes and brings privately held assets into public ownership.
Since India's independence, the country's leaders have made steady economic expansion a top priority. With the advent of the five-year plan in 1951, the private sector saw a surge in the number of commercial banks to 400. All these private banks were out for themselves, and they did not work in the government's best interests. After the passage of the SBI Act in July 1955, SBI (State Bank of India) became the country's first nationalized bank. On July 19, 1960, the State Bank of India and seven of its subsidiaries were nationalized.
In the subsequent years, the Indira Gandhi government made the decision to take over 14 large commercial banks with at least Rs. 50 crore in deposits. The next wave of nationalization took effect in April 1980, when another six banks were taken over by the government. At the end of the second phase of nationalization, the government was in charge of about 91% of India's banking industry. Here's the full list of nationalized banks in India:
