As 2025 was ending, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India had boarded the “Reform Express”, adding the year would be remembered for its focus on reforms as a continuous national mission, building on the ground covered over the past 11 years.
Few sectors reflect that journey better than banking. After over a decade spent repairing balance sheets and rebuilding capital, India’s financial sector looks stable. India’s central bank has played a key role in this makeover, undertaking a series of decisive reforms to ensure the sector meets the needs of a growing economy. That process is set to continue. The recently announced High-Level Committee on Banking for Viksit Bharat is expected to propose more reforms to boost growth.
This is the backdrop in which the 30th edition of the BT-KPMG India’s Best Banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) must be read. It is not only a ranking of the performance of the institutions, but also of their leadership. This year, the awards were evaluated by a distinguished jury chaired by Dinesh Kumar Khara, former Chairman of the State Bank of India. Other members included G.N. Bajpai, Ashish Chauhan, Gunit Chadha, Zarin Daruwala, Ashima Goyal and Surojit Shome. KPMG served as the knowledge partner once again, working closely with senior editors from BT.
For the fifth consecutive time, ICICI Bank has topped the table as the Bank of the Year. It is also the Best Large Indian Bank. HSBC India has been adjudged the Best Foreign Bank and a winner in the Best in Innovation—Foreign Bank category. Public sector Bank of Maharashtra has been named the Best Mid-Sized Bank, while Karur Vysya Bank has won in the Best Small Bank category. Canara Bank is the Best in Innovation in the public sector bank category. Bajaj Finance has emerged as the Best Large NBFC. L&T Finance has won two awards.
No discussion of this transition would be complete without acknowledging the role of the banking regulator. For the first time in the history of these honours, the Lifetime Achievement Award goes to a former RBI Governor, Shaktikanta Das. It recognises the central role he played in steering the financial system after taking charge in December 2018, amid the fallout of the IL&FS collapse and strained relations between Mint Road and North Block.
The central bank continues to do a fine job of helming the Indian banking and financial sector. As Anand Adhikari notes in the lead essay of this edition, over the past year, the RBI has rolled out a string of reforms with the message to lenders that it will enable growth, but with caution.
Elsewhere, Nachiket Kelkar analyses the overhaul of external commercial borrowing rules, a move that allows companies to borrow more overseas at a time when international interest rates are falling.
The lessons from the past decade are clear.
The hard-fought gains in financial stability must be protected, even as growth needs to be supported amid rapid technological change and global trade disruption.
@szarabi
