Bank stocks were on fire today (25 October) as the scrips surged to 32 per cent after the government unveiled an unprecedented Rs 2.11 lakh crore two-year road map for strengthening NPA-hit public sector banks.

Shares of Punjab National Bank were trading with a sharp gain of 31.90 per cent, Bank of Baroda zoomed 24.17 per cent, Bank of India advanced by 23.75 per cent and State Bank of India surged 19.02 per cent on BSE.

Also, Andhra Bank was quoting 14.96 per cent higher, Allahabad Bank (12.70 per cent) and Syndicate Bank (12.11 per cent).

The road map for strengthening NPA-hit public sector banks includes recapitalisation bonds, budgetary support and equity dilution.

The capital infusion, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, will be accompanied by reforms to enable the state-owned banks to play a major role in the financial system and give a strong push to the job-creating MSME sector.

Giving details, Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar said the government has decided to take a massive step to capitalise PSBs (public sector banks) in a “front-loaded” manner, with a view to support credit growth and job creation.

Non-performing assets of banks have increased from Rs 2.78 lakh crore in March 2015 to a staggering Rs 7.33 lakh crore as on June 2017. (PTI)