We want to revive them and make them professional, said Communications minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Merger would be achieved via creation of a parent company in Netherlands in which the shareholders of each current group would own half.
MTNL's scrip jumped 4.92 per cent to Rs 6.19 -- its upper circuit limit on the BSE.
Government may call it a merger but in reality it is cold-blooded murder of six banks,” a release by the bank unions said.
LVB is under the prompt corrective action framework of RBI since last month for low levels of capital buffers.
Indiabulls Housing Finance (IBHF) stock tumbled 18.02 per cent to trade at Rs 197 on the BSE.
Merger will make the new entity the second-largest bank in the country after the SBI with a total business volume of Rs 18 lakh crore.
Employees and officers of Allahabad Bank staged a demonstration in front of its headquarters here to protest against the merger.
Following next year, Bank of Baroda had merged Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with itself.
Grab and Gojek are the top-two startup brands in Southeast Asia, valued at USD 14 billion and USD10 billion.