India, Oct. 4 -- The Surat Parsi Panchayat has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him not to merge the 114-year-old Central Bank of India with other public-sector banks. Calling it India's first "swadeshi bank"-owned and managed by Indians-the charitable trust's president, Homi Doodhwala, requested the prime minister keep the bank's historical identity intact.

"It has come to our attention through reliable sources that there is a possibility of merging Central Bank of India with other banks to create a bigger bank," the letter said. "By doing so, the Central Bank of India will cease to exist and will be rechristened as another bank with a new name, thereby relinquishing its original identity as India's first Swadeshi Bank."...