India needs ‘4 or 5 more banks like the State Bank of India’: Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Sunday (September 26) that India needs to scale up its banking sector in light of the shifting realities of the economy and industry.

Delivering the keynote address at the 74th annual general meeting of the Indian Banks’ Association in Mumbai, Sitharaman said India needs “four or five more banks like the State Bank of India”.

“If we look at the post-COVID-19 scenario, India’s banking contour will have to be very unique to India, where there has been an extremely successful adoption of digitisation,” the minister said.

She commended the level of digitisation of Indian banks, which helped the government to transfer money to small, medium and big account holders through digital mechanisms.

“A major challenge bankers faced particularly during the pandemic was the government’s agenda of amalgamation of banks. This happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, even as banks were rushing to help those even in remote areas of the country. I appreciate bankers for ensuring that the amalgamation did not create any inconvenience to customers. You ensured that systems of different banks spoke to each other, ensuring there were no aberrations.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said there needs to be a change and reset in Indians’ mindset and ways of living. “This reset is what is going to occupy all of our minds,” Sitharaman said.