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Interesting Facts About the Banking Sector in India

March 12, 2019

Interesting Facts About the Banking Sector in India

India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. It’s also home to one of the largest banking sectors. However, do you know how it all started? Let’s take a look at some of the interesting facts about its history and recent developments:

1. History

The modern banking sector was set up in India in the last decade of the 18th century. Since then, it’s evolved and matured in many ways. However, it’s growth can be divided into two categories which are:

●       Pre-Independence Phase (1770-1947)

●       Post- Independence Phase (1947 to till date)

One of the first banks that was established in India was the Bank of Hindustan. It was set up in 1770 but failed and eventually liquidated in 1829-32. After that, the General Bank of India was set up in 1789 but it failed too.

The first bank that was successful and exists even today is the State Bank of India (SBI). It started as the Bank of Calcutta in 1809, then renamed to the Bank of Bengal in 1809, and since then it’s has expanded all across the country.

2. Market Size

Today, the Indian banking sector comprises 27 public sector banks, 21 private sector banks, 56 regional rural banks, 49 foreign banks, 1,562 urban cooperative banks, and 94,384 rural cooperative banks.

3. Government Initiatives

In the past few years, the government has taken many initiatives to push financial inclusion. One of these is the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) that has helped in the creation of over 335 million accounts (at the time of writing). It’s also rolled out schemes like Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna, and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna to help the people avail loans at affordable interest rates.

The banking sector in India has come a long way today. We have a wide range of domestic and foreign banks, and the government is also looking to merge the smaller banks to create “mega banks” like the SBI which has become of the biggest banks across the world due to the merger.

Do you want to start a career in the banking sector? If your answer is “yes”, then you can increase your chances of getting a job by increasing your qualification. For instance, you can apply for the professional diploma course in banking management which is offered us at an affordable price.

Photo credit: Dinesh Cyanam on VisualHunt / CC BY-SA

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