The Union Cabinet on June 23 approved an alternative mechanism to evaluate proposals of amalgamation of public sector banks. The alternative mechanism may include a panel of ministers, who may be picked up by the Prime Minister. It is, though, expected that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari may be included among the panel members. "The proposals received from banks for in-principle approval to formulate schemes of amalgamation shall be placed before the Alternative Mechanism (AM)," said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, adding that the decision will be based only on commercial consideration by the boards of the banks involved. After getting in-principle approval, the banks will take steps in accordance with the law and SEBI requirements. "The final scheme will be notified by the Central government in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India," Jaitley said at a presser after the Cabinet meeting. He said the decision will help "create strong and competitive banks that can absorb shocks and have the capacity to raise resources without depending on the state exchequer". At present, there are 20 public sector banks, apart from State Bank of India which recently merged with five of its subsidiaries and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank.