Sitharaman in US: Govt setting up 75 digital banks this year, says FM 

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India is planning to set up 75 “digital only” banks and non-banking financial companies, also known as NBFCs, to ensure business community within the lending system is not impacted even in exceptional times. She was delivering a speech at the Washington DC-based think tank Atlantic Council.  

The Finance Minister explained that the government made efforts to achieve macroeconomic stability by recapitalising banks and raising forex reserves.  

She was quoted as saying by news agency PTI, “Bad loans and provisioning were taxing. We have to keep infusing money into banks… We have amalgamated several of them… The Reserve Bank of India has also been very nimble about setting up ‘digital only’ NBFCs. Now, we are in the process of setting up digital banks as well, not one but 75 of them this year.” 

Sitharaman also talked about India’s economic recovery from the pandemic and gave robust projections for 2030. She said, “So, as we look at India, given the pandemic and the recovery from it, and also where we stand today, we see the decade before us… 2030 as a very robust decade where India would definitely be one of the fastest growing economies.” 

She furthermore mentioned that the task ahead was daunting given the rising prices of commodities especially crude oil and natural gas, geopolitical uncertainties and the global growth slowdown. The Union Minister said that the government had undertaken reform measures in view of the coronavirus crisis, including those related to supply chain.  

She said that the government’s priority was to push capex without forgetting its moral obligation towards the underprivileged. In Budget 2022-23, the government had announced a 35.4 per cent increase in capital expenditure to Rs 75,000 crore from Rs 55,400 crore in the last financial year.  

(With agency inputs) 

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