Indian banks must change scale, aim for global top 10: Amit Shah

Mumbai, Sep 25 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said Indian banks should not merely plan for growth, but change their scale and aspire to be among the world's top ten.

"I want to tell our Indian banks that they should not only plan for growth, but try to change the scale. Our banks should be in the top ten," Shah said, speaking at the Financial Express India's Best Bank Awards function here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target of making India a `vishwaguru' by 2047, he said. "The Constitution speaks of three types of inclusiveness, which are political, social and financial inclusion, and these are guiding India's growth story," Shah added.

Supporting the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) is critical to the country's economic growth, the senior BJP minister said, reminding that behemoths like Reliance Industries, Adani Group and Torrent Group were also MSMEs at some point.

"If a country's banking system, especially the one in a country like India, does not give importance to MSMEs, it stops the growth story of the nation," he said.

If nobody had extended credit to these conglomerates, India would not have had so many industrial houses, Shah added.

It can be noted that as per the official statistics, the MSME growth in FY25 slowed down to 14.1 per cent from over 20 per cent in the previous fiscal. Analysts have of late expressed concerns about the credit quality in the MSME lending segment.

Talking about the global economy, Shah said India has emerged as a bright spot. "While the world is going through difficulties, with polarisation of societies and people losing faith in leadership, India is offering stability, trustworthy leadership and a robust economy," he stated.

He also highlighted India's consistent economic performance. "Many countries are struggling at a one to two per cent growth rate, while India has maintained a steady seven to eight per cent growth. This is a huge achievement," Shah said.

Highlighting investor confidence, Shah added, "We have consistently maintained a 14 per cent increase in foreign direct investment. This reflects global faith in India's economy." Speaking about structural reforms, the minister said, "Through the PLI scheme, industrial corridors, logistics parks and Start-up India, we have created a new ecosystem. A decade ago we had only 26 start-ups, and today we have 1.92 lakh. In the last ten years, India has moved from 26th to 3rd position globally in this sector." Shah pointed to future areas of growth. "Electric vehicles, battery technology, green growth, fintech, space and defence manufacturing will all strengthen India's growth story in the coming years," he said.

He recalled the state of banks before 2014. "Between 2008 and 2014, loans worth Rs 52 lakh crore were given, many of which turned into bad loans. The banking sector was marred by corruption, carelessness and lack of transparency. Prime Minister Modi decided to bring in reforms to clean up the system," Shah said.

The minister also mentioned the Jan Dhan initiative. "There were 60 crore people where not a single member of the family had a bank account. We opened 53 crore accounts and linked poor people with the banking network," he said.

On digital adoption, Shah remarked, "The UPI has brought a revolution in digital payments. Recent figures show that every second digital transaction in the world is happening in India." He also stressed India's digital leap. "Today 52 crore people are using DigiLocker and 95 per cent of the country has 5G network coverage," Shah said. PTI ND AA KRK