Maharashtra govt's Rs 1,125 cr stuck in Yes Bank

The state has asked various civic bodies, state public sector undertakings, autonomous bodies and other

government departments regarding any deal with the Yes Bank, and full details of their funds/deposits/salary accounts/etc., lying with other private sector banks.

The development comes in the wake of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's directives on Friday to avoid parking state government funds in private sector banks from now on and use the services of public sector banks only.

Three major civic bodies have admitted that their deposits of around Rs 1,125 crores are stuck in the beleaguered Yes Bank.

The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) and Nashik Municipal Smart City Development Corporation Ltd. (NMSCDCL) admitted to having total deposits worth Rs 800 crores and Rs 310 crores and Rs 15 crores, respectively in the Yes Bank.

PCMC Municipal Commissioner Shravan Hardikar informed the media that it had reduced its deposits in Yes Bank from Rs 1,100 crores to Rs 800 crores and also has deposits worth Rs 4,000 crore in other banks.

Last December, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar had said the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai would consider shifting some of its accounts to PSBs as a precautionary measure.

The state government is likely to initiate steps to move its police department accounts from the Axis Bank to a PSB, an official said.

Lauding the state move to shift all accounts to PSBs, Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission president Kishore Tiwari said there have been many instances of "unethical practices" by officials when big ticket accounts were moved from PSBs to private sector banks on grounds of higher interest or better service.

"This is the outcome. I am writing to the CM to shift all government accounts not only from private sector banks, but also from the cooperative banks, ," Tiwari said.