Govt. To Set Up High-powered Panel For Banking Reforms
The finance minister also highlighted that non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks are at their lowest level ever, providing a stronger foundation for the banking sector to undertake further reforms and support economic growth. “The ideas emerging from the banking leadership could provide substantive inputs to the committee and help the government move rapidly on its recommendations,\" she said
New Delhi:Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday hinted that the government is likely to set up a high-powered panel for banking reforms soon, and it will examine how India’s banking sector can better support the country’s long-term economic goals and its vision of becoming a developed nation by 2047. Once constituted, the committee will study the sector and submit its recommendations to the government for quick action. The finance minister also asked public sector banks (PSBs) to leverage their strengthened balance sheets to support the next phase of economic growth. The move of the government comes at a time when banks have already strengthened their balance sheets and reduced bad loans. But the government said that it would further accelerate the existing reforms in the banking system. In her February budget announcement, she had proposed a high-level committee on ‘Banking for Viksit Bharat’ to comprehensively review the sector and align it with India’s next phase of growth. “We expect the announcement of the high-powered committee to look into the banking sector. Soon the committee will be announced. The committee would give its thoughts and recommendations to the government,” Sitharaman said while addressing the two-day PSB confluence here. The finance minister also highlighted that non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks are at their lowest level ever, providing a stronger foundation for the banking sector to undertake further reforms and support economic growth. “The ideas emerging from the banking leadership could provide substantive inputs to the committee and help the government move rapidly on its recommendations," she said. “Viksit Bharat 2047 is actually not too far away. We are in 2026, so less than 20 years is what we have before us,” she said, underlining the urgency for the banking sector to prepare for the country’s future financing requirements. Department of financial services secretary Sanjay Lohiya also said that the asset quality of PSBs had improved sharply, with gross non-performing assets (NPAs) declining from a peak of 14. 6 per cent in March 2018 to a record low of 1. 93 per cent in March 2026, while net NPAs fell from 8 per cent to 2. 39 percent during the same period. With over 25 years of experience, I've extensively covered policy-related business developments and stories in the finance and economy domains, with a focus on corporates. His career has seen him working with various mainstream media organizations at different levels in Mumbai, Chandigarh, and Delhi.