Palai Central Bank

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Palai Central Bank was a commercial bank headquartered in Kerala, South India that operated between the early 1900s and 1960. Although it was started in a small, remote city, the bank grew to become not only the largest bank, but the largest institution in Kerala, after the state government, and the 17th largest among the 94 scheduled banks in India. The Kerala High Court in 1960 ordered the liquidation of the Palai Central Bank on a petition from the Reserve Bank of India.^[1]

The Registrar of Companies lists its earliest date of incorporation in 1901.^[2] From the time of its founding in 1927, Palai Central Bank had an eventful history. The bank's existence was during the period preceding and immediately following India's independence when Kerala – a small state in the far south – exerted very little influence in national policy. It was also a period when the need to protect the interests of different segments of society was not a major consideration when the central government made policy decisions.