Operational Efficiency and Malmquist Productivity of Indian Banks: A Comparison Between Public and Private Sector Banks

The article analyses the operational efficiency of Indian scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) using data from a sample of 35 Indian SCBs, comprising 19 public sector banks (PSBs) and 16 private sector banks (PVBs), in the period between 2010 and 2019. The research uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) to estimate the efficiency of PSBs in comparison with PVBs. The impact of the drivers of efficiency measures is analysed using the Tobit regression, while the Malmquist DEA is used to calculate the overall change in efficiency and productivity over the same time period. Finally, the rate of change in efficiency/productivity is examined with seemingly unrelated regression models. Findings suggest that while the total factor productivity of PSBs’ improved over the last decade, their performance, when compared to PVBs, is poor. This research indicates the relative inefficiency of PSBs and emphasizes the need for attention to this sector. It empirically discovers that PSBs that are larger and older are relatively more efficient, thereby supporting the government policy of PSB mergers.