On Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman shared great news about Indian banks. She said our banks are strong and doing well, which is really important because we can’t have banks that are struggling. This was said while she presented the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha. She praised the Reserve Bank of India and the Finance Ministry for keeping the banking system steady, noting that even countries with good systems sometimes face bank failures.
Sitharaman mentioned how banking has changed since 2014 and said we should be proud of how banks are now managed better. Unlike before, banks are not asking the government for money because they can now raise funds on their own by selling bonds. Nowadays, we can do banking online or on our phones, which is available everywhere from Arunachal Pradesh to Rajasthan. She also highlighted how Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) help reach people who need services in remote areas.
The minister shared that the number of bank branches has grown significantly: from 3,792 to 1,65,501 branches by September 2024. Out of these, 85,116 are public sector banks, making banking easier even in rural areas. She said the number of rural branches increased from 41,855 in 2014 to 55,372 in March 2024. Semi-urban branches grew from 33,504 to 55,214, and urban branches rose from 21,007 to 29,276 over the same period.
Sitharaman also talked about women empowerment. She revealed that 68% of all Mudra loans went to women and that 44% of all Swanidhi loans were granted to them without needing collateral. A huge milestone is that 1 lakh out of 12 lakh rural Mudra bankers are women, helping them earn more money. Today, there are 53 crore Mudra bank accounts with a total of Rs 2.37 lakh crore deposited, increasing the average balance from Rs 1,065 to Rs 4,397.
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