Parsis appeal to rescue bank's 113-year-old legacy

The Parsi community is planning to appeal to the Union government to protect the distinct identity of the Central Bank of India, established on December 21, 1911, in Mumbai, by fellow community members, Sir Sorabji Pochkhanawala and freedom fighter Sir Pherozeshah Mehta.

- Manoj Ramakrishnan

The bank, hailed as the country's first Swadeshi bank wholly-owned and managed by Indians, is considered as much a Parsi institution as the Tata companies, although it is now government-owned.

Recently, the Surat Parsi Panchayat Funds and Properties, the apex trust of the community in Surat, reacted to reports that the bank could be merged with another institution to create a bigger bank.