9 PSU banks including Canara Bank, Indian Bank to merge with SBI, PNB, Bank of Baroda? PIB responds

A viral social media post claiming that the Central government has ordered the merger of nine public sector banks into three larger entities has been declared fake by the Press Information Bureau’s Fact Check unit.

The document circulating online was designed to resemble an official Gazette of India notification issued by the Ministry of Finance. It falsely claimed that the government had approved a major consolidation of public sector banks and listed nine lenders that would supposedly be merged into three entities.

As per the fake notification, Indian Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Central Bank of India would be absorbed into State Bank of India under a new “SBI Group” identity. It further claimed that Union Bank of India, Bank of India and Punjab & Sind Bank would be merged into Punjab National Bank, while Canara Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and UCO Bank would be brought under Bank of Baroda.


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The PIB Fact Check unit rejected the purported notification and clarified that the document circulating on social media is fake.

Fake merger claim gains traction online

The document reportedly surfaced across messaging platforms and social media before attracting wider attention on X. Its circulation led to confusion over whether the government had initiated another round of consolidation among public sector lenders.

The incident follows a similar false claim that went viral in June. That fabricated graphic alleged that SBI, PNB and Canara Bank would be merged, prompting PIB Fact Check to issue a clarification at the time as well.

The recurring nature of such claims comes amid the history of actual PSU bank mergers in India. In 2019, the government consolidated 10 public sector banks into four entities, bringing down the total number of PSU lenders from 27 to 12.

That previous consolidation has provided a real-world backdrop against which fabricated merger documents can appear credible, particularly to bank customers and employees who have witnessed such changes.

What happens before a PSU bank merger?

A genuine merger involving public sector banks would require a formal process and cannot be established through an unauthorised document circulating on social media.

Government fact-checkers have pointed to the involvement of the Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India, along with the necessary parliamentary or regulatory clearances, for any such major banking consolidation.

For now, there is no such merger proposal on the table, according to the clarification. People have been advised to verify claims about government decisions through authorised sources, including the RBI website and the Finance Ministry’s official communication channels, before sharing them.