In addition, most mergers and acquisitions have involved expansion into new markets by the acquiring bank rather than acquisitions of local competitors, which has allowed local communities to continue to enjoy a variety of potential providers of banking services despite the industry consolidation. 8 One unavoidable aspect of consolidation is a loss in the number of bank headquarters offices.
As a follow up of the recommendations of the NABARD Working Group, the RBI took a series of measures in April 1996 to give a thrust to micro-finance based lending, and these are worth recalling.