Which was the first bank in India established with wholly Indian capital and Indian management?
- A.Bank of Hindustan
- B.Oudh Commercial Bank
- C.Punjab National Bank
- D.Central Bank of India
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, Punjab National Bank. It was registered in 1894 and opened at Lahore as the first bank floated entirely with Indian capital and run by Indian management, with Lala Lajpat Rai among those associated with its founding. It survived the failures of the early twentieth century and was nationalised in 1969.
Option A, Bank of Hindustan of 1770, was a European agency house venture at Calcutta and the first bank in India, a different distinction. Option B, Oudh Commercial Bank of 1881, is described as the first bank in India with limited liability under Indian management, and papers sometimes use that wording, so read the stem closely. Option D, Central Bank of India of 1911, founded by Sorabji Pochkhanawala, is remembered as the first entirely Indian-owned commercial bank. Three similar claims, three different banks.
Read the full article: History of Banking in India: Nationalisation, RBI and PYQs
Practice Questions
View allIn which of the following years did the fourteen major Indian scheduled commercial banks get nationalised in India?
- A.1969
- B.1970
- C.1972
- D.1950
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On 19 July 1969 the Government of India issued an ordinance taking over the fourteen largest Indian scheduled commercial banks, those whose deposits stood at ₹50 crore or more.
Read the full explanation →Which among the following is the oldest joint stock bank in India?
- A.Allahabad Bank
- B.Bank of Baroda
- C.Yes Bank
- D.Punjab National Bank
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It was founded in 1865 and is remembered as the oldest joint stock bank in India, a joint stock bank being one owned by shareholders rather than by a partnership of agency houses.
Read the full explanation →The Reserve Bank of India was fully nationalised and owned by the Government of India in which of the following years?
- A.1947
- B.1948
- C.1949
- D.1950
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The Reserve Bank opened in 1935 as a shareholders' bank with privately held share capital.
Read the full explanation →When was the Indian Rupee de-linked from the Pound Sterling?
- A.1975
- B.1947
- C.1982
- D.1963
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The rupee was tied to the pound sterling from colonial times and stayed pegged to it after independence. In 1975 the link was cut and the rupee was tied instead to a basket of currencies of India's major trading partners, with the Reserve Bank fixing the daily rate.
Read the full explanation →Which commission recommended the establishment of the Reserve Bank of India?
- A.Narasimham Committee
- B.Hilton Young Commission
- C.Chelliah Committee
- D.Sivaraman Committee
Show answer
Formally the Royal Commission on Indian Currency and Finance, it reported in 1926 that the control of currency and of credit should not be split between the Government and the Imperial Bank but placed in one central bank.
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