BT Best Banks Awards sees the biggest names in the business of banking gather at Gujarat's GIFT City

The Business Today Banking & Economy Summit, held at GIFT City, Gandhinagar, witnessed a stellar gathering from the banking and financial services world, who were felicitated as part of the BT Best Banks Awards.

Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Bhupendra Patel, Chief Minister, Gujarat, were present at the event.

The 28th edition of the prestigious BT-KPMG Best Bank Survey 2023 celebrates those who have weathered storms in FY23, innovated in products and services, nurtured talent, and leveraged the strengths of fintech or technology partners to prepare for the future.

This year, in the Bank Of the Year category, there were joint winners: ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank. Uday Kotak, Non-Executive Director & Founder, Kotak Mahindra Bank was given the Lifetime Achievement Award. 

The BT-KPMG Best Bank Survey 2023, spanning close to three decades, uses quantitative as well as qualitative metrics to evaluate Banks, NBFCs, and fintech companies. This year, large NBFCs were included, reflecting the changing BFSI landscape

For the BT Best Banks Awards, the jury, headed by Anand Kumar Sinha, Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, played a crucial role in deciding on a dozen awards. There are a total of 16 award categories and 17 winners (due to joint winners in the Bank of the Year category).

The list of winners included marquee names such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, JP Morgan, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Razorpay, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, Bajaj Finance, Bank of Maharashtra and M&M Finance among others. Union Minister Gadkari, while sharing his views on ‘The Next Chapter of India’s Financial Power & Economic Growth’ said that Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) bonds offer a unique opportunity for the common man to participate in the country’s rapid infra building and get healthy return on their investments as well.

“I don’t say this openly, but I have decided that I now make roads with money collected from poor countrymen. We don’t have any dearth of money [funding]. I am keeping the InvIT bonds for the [common] public,” he said.

“I often encourage people like peons, [police] constables or labourers to invest in InvIT bonds, I assure you of 8.05% annual interest,” he added.

Gujarat CM credited the banking turnaround to PM Modi's policies. "The present growth and development is due to the robust performance of our banks and NBFCs. International institutions like the World Bank, New Development Bank, and Asian Development Bank are keen to be a part of India's growth story," he said.

Dr Arvind Panagariya, Chairman, 16th Finance Commission of India and former vice chairman of the country’s apex economic think tank NITI Aayog batted for privatisation of public sector banks once the general elections are over. Panagariya said that once the current dispensation returns to office post the general elections, it should be on their agenda.

“In my opinion, this is in fact a good opportunity, when the banks are now in good health, right now they are flourishing, they have solid value. This is a good time to privatise. I think this is good time, when the government comes back in its next term, to start seriously privatising some of the [public sector undertaking] banks,” he said.

Also speaking on the occasion, Ashish Chauhan, MD & CEO of NSE, said that that the regulatory framework of GIFT City especially those related to the speed of execution must be benchmarked to similar special zones of Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore or London.

“If they take one day, then in how many minutes, you can kind of structure a company here. (Those) are the kind of things you need to benchmark against Hong Kong or Singapore or Dubai or London,” said Chauhan while adding that GIFT City scores over other jurisdictions or IFSCs in terms of costs and compliances as India is still a very “low-cost jurisdiction”.

In a similar context bestselling author Chetan Bhagat said that GIFT City, with proper reforms, can become a financial nerve centre just like Hong Kong, Dubai or Singapore.

According to Bhagat, one way GIFT City can rise up as India's answer to Singapore or Dubai is through localisation. “For those financial companies coming here in GIFT, you have to offer them incentives. They need local courts, you would need a mayor,” he said.

Further, pointing out the success of Dubai and Singapore, Bhagat said that one reason people, especially high net-worth individuals, choose these cities is because they can maintain their non-resident status.

“That has to come to GIFT. And then you have the big infrastructure push. Great connectivity, bullet trains, these things. With a bullet train, now you can commute between GIFT to Mumbai in under three hours,” he said.

The esteemed jury led by Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, Anand Kumar Sinha, picked the winners. The jury was ably supported by Ashish Chauhan, MD & CEO, NSE India, Pallav Mohapatra, CEO & MD, Arcil Ltd, Rajiv Kaul, Executive Vice Chairman, CEO & Whole Time Director, CMS Info Systems Ltd, Ranu Vohra, Co-founder and Executive Vice Chairman, Avendus, and N. S. Kannan, Former MD & CEO, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

The survey is based on quantitative analysis covering 35-plus business parameters to evaluate both banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs).

Interestingly, this year, large NBFCs have been introduced in the study, reflecting the changes in the banking and financial services industry landscape. NBFCs are ranked in a similar fashion as banks and only large NBFCs -- which are in the Reserve Bank of India's topmost layer – have been considered.

Here’s the complete list of winners in the BT-KPMG Best Banks & NBFCs Award 2022-23:

Banks - Jury Awards

• Best Bank in Innovation: Ujjivan Small Finance Bank
• Best Bank in Talent and Workforce: Kotak Mahindra Bank
• Best Bank in Fintech Initiative: Federal Bank
• Best Fintechs In Payments, Value Added Services and Lending - Jury Awards
• Best Fintech In Payments: Razorpay
• Best Fintech In Value-added services: Perfios
• Best Fintech in Lending: Lendingkart
• BT-KPMG Quantitative (Non-Jury Winners)
• Best Small Finance Bank: Ujjivan Small Finance Bank
• Best Small Indian Bank: Karur Vysya Bank
• Best Mid-size Indian Bank: Bank of Maharashtra
• Best Large Foreign Bank: JP Morgan
• Best Large NBFC: Bajaj Finance Ltd
• Best Large Indian Bank: HDFC Bank
• Category Awards in Innovation, Fintech Initiatives and Talent & Workforce for Banks and NBFCs

NBFC Jury Awards

• Best NBFC in Innovation: Tata Capital
• Best NBFC in Talent and Workforce: M&M Finance