India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has highlighted the role of digital financial inclusion and literacy and therefore, the onus on banks in paving the path to making Viksit Bharat an imminent reality by 2047.

While 2014 onward the nation embarked on a massive financial inclusion program which saw the participation of all banks, the country now needs to undertake the next phase of transformation to create a large, self-reliant domestic financial system, the finance minister said.

“We need to have digital financial inclusion as one of the very important goals so that cost-effective digital means, can reach everybody. We need to continue to innovate; ensure that every Indian, no matter which part of the country they are in, however remote the location, becomes a part of financial inclusion programs,” she added.

Referring to the robust health of Indian public sector banks today, the finance minister stated that the profitability of scheduled commercial banks is at a decadal high with return on assets of 1.3%; return on equity of 13.8% and Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPAs) having declined to a 12-year low of 2.8%. Sitharaman was of the opinion that given how “sound, fit and healthy” banks in the country are today, they must chalk out the future with confidence.

“We have to move forward by comprehensively touching every sector of our economy so that we can achieve the goal that we are hoping to reach,” she said.

She also spoke about the importance of lending to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), who represent the true Bharat.

“We are talking about making the aspiration of Viksit Bharat a reality. Bharat cannot be Viksit if only some layers have access to credit; access to better banking facilities and access to global finance. But the bulk which is the MSME, which has been the character of India's economy, can be left aside? No that is not possible,” she said while adding that the banking sector needed to use innovative and new models for credit evaluation of MSMEs.

On concerns about slowing growth, the minister said that the government was committed to taking all necessary measures to ensure that India remains fully and firmly on course to becoming the third-largest economy in the world. 

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