ICICI Bank's scrip rose a spectacular 874.6 per cent, followed by HDFC Bank's at 269.8 per cent. Share prices of all private sector banks listed on NSE showed an improvement, with several private banks showing an increase of above 100 per cent during 1999-2000-Nedungadi Bank (187.9 per cent), UTI Bank (182.6 per cent) and Global Trust Bank (152.6 per cent)."As a result, the turnover in shares of all banks increased by 16.3 per cent to Rs 30,982 from Rs 26,647 crore. The share of the top five banks in total turnover declined marginally to 95.5 per cent from 96.4 per cent.

The contribution of bank scrips to total turnover in NSE also declined to 3.7 per cent from 6.4 per cent in 1998-99, primarily due to sharp improvement in the overall turnover in the NSE," observed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India for 2000-2001.

An examination of the share prices of state-run banks indicates that scrip-prices of only two banks-State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, and Oriental Bank of Commerce-showed an increase of 18.3 per cent and 17 per cent respectively, while the share prices of the remaining seven banks displayed a decline. Bank of India's scrip dipped the maximum-by 22 per cent.

During the year 1999-2000, three banks-Syndicate Bank, Centurion Bank and Times Bank (now merged with HDFC Bank) raised equity capital amounting to Rs 193.75 crore, through initial public offering (IPO) in the market. The number of banks listed on the stock exchange increased to 29 in 1999-2000 from 25 in 1998-99. As on end-March 2000, the shares of nine state-run banks and 19 private-sector banks were listed for secondary market trading on the NSE.