Mr Talwar was speaking to newspersons after the inauguration of Punjab National Bank's `Large Corporate Branch' here.Said Mr Talwar: "Most of the banks have a comfortable capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 10-12 per cent as against the required nine per cent. The RBI is examining the proposal to raise CAR to 10 per cent, however, no specific time frame is before us".

The RBI will also shortly announce new norms for the setting up of private sector banks. These guidelines will be issued shortly and with it, norms for old private sector banks to attain the necessary net worth requirement will also be provided."

On the issue of new private sector banks meeting the norm of bringing down promoters holding to 40 per cent by end of this fiscal, Mr Talwar said: "They must do it. The RBI is talking to them".

When asked about Standard & Poor's and Crisil's report stating that NPA loan levels for Indian banks would be higher at 20-25 per cent than those reported, Mr Talwar said: "The bank's annual statement reflects the true nature of bad assets. We have no reason to doubt the integrity of auditors".