India will celebrate its 80th Independence Day today, which means banks across the country will be closed today, as the country’s citizens are part of the occasion as well. August 15 this year falls on the third Saturday of the month, when banks are traditionally open as part of the odd-Saturday schedule.
However, financial institutions across the country will be shut over the weekend, so if you had planned any banking appointments, you may need to reschedule them for next week. According to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) holiday calendar, lenders will remain shut on Saturday on account of Independence Day and also in celebration of Shahenshai Parsi New Year.
August 15 mandatory holiday
Under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1981, Independence Day (August 15), Republic Day (January 26), and Gandhi Jayanti (October 2) are national gazetted holidays across India, which means organizations, universities, MNCs, and schools across the country are closed in observance of the occasion.
Independence Day is celebrated to pay homage to the leaders of the Indian Independence movement. The country’s prime minister hoists the flag on the Red Fort in the national capital of Delhi and also delivers a speech.
What about stock exchanges?
Indian stock exchanges, i.e., the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), will remain closed on Saturday and Sunday, in line with their regular weekend closure. The same goes for commodity exchanges, which are MCX and NCDEX.
Upcoming Bank Holidays in August
The rest of the month will see bank holidays varying across different cities of the country. On August 19 (Wednesday), banks will remain closed in Agartala in observance of the Birthday of Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur.
On August 25 (Tuesday), financial institutions in the cities of Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, and Vijayawada will be shut for the occasion of Milad-Un-Nabi / First Onam / Milad-i-Sherif.
The very next day, on August 26 (Wednesday), banks will be closed in the cities of Belapur, Bengaluru,Bhubaneswar, Chennai,Dehradun, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jammu, Kanpur, Kochi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna, Raipur, Ranchi, Srinagar, and Thiruvananthapuram for the festivals of Id-E-Milad/Baravafat/Milad-un-Nabi (Birthday of Prophet Mohammad)/Thiruvonam.
Finally, on August 28 (Friday), lenders across Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Dehradun, Gangtok, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kochi, Lucknow, Shimla, Srinagar, and Thiruvananthapuram will be shut for the festivals of Raksha Bandhan / Pang-Lhabsol / Friday following Eid-i-Milad-ul-Nabi / Sree Narayana Guru Jayanthi / Ayyankali Jayanthi.