The Prime Minister on Thursday exhorted banks to proactively serve the customers and support wealth creators and job creators in the country.
Addressing the concluding session of the conference on ‘Creating Synergies for Seamless Credit Flow and Economic Growth via video conference, the PM said banks must provide customised solutions to companies and MSMEs after analysing their needs.
“Banks must do away with the feeling that they are approver and the customer is an applicant, or that they are the giver and the client a receiver. Banks will have to adopt the model of partnership,” the Prime Minister emphasised.
The Prime Minister said that due to major changes that have taken place in the country and the schemes that have been implemented, a huge pool of data has been created in the country and the banking sector must take advantage of this to extend credit proactively.
He listed the opportunities presented by the flagship schemes like PM Awas Yojana, Swamiva, and Svanidhi and asked the banks to participate and play their role in these schemes
Steps taken in the last 6 to 7 years have created a strong capital base for the banks. Banks have sufficient liquidity and no backlog for provisioning of NPAs. The NPAs in public sector banks are at the lowest in the last five years. This has led to upgrading of outlook for the Indian Banks by the International agencies, the Prime Minister pointed out.
The Prime Minister said “today Indian banks are strong enough to play a major role in imparting fresh energy to the country's economy, for giving a big push and making India self-reliant. I consider this phase as a major milestone in the banking sector of India”.
“It is the need of the hour that now the banks of India work proactively to bolster the wealth sheet of the country along with their balance sheets”, the Prime Minister added.
The Prime Minister said the scale at which corporates and start-ups are coming forward today is unprecedented. “In such a situation, what can be a better time to strengthen, fund, invest in India's aspirations?”, the Prime Minister asked.
The Prime Minister called upon the banking sector to move by attaching themselves with national goals and promises. He praised the proposed initiative of web-based project funding tracker to bring together ministries and banks. He suggested that it will be better if it is added to the GatiShakti Portal as an interface. He wished that in the ‘Amrit Kaal’ of independence, the Indian banking sector will move with big thinking and Innovative approach.
He gave an example of PLI where the government is giving the Indian manufacturers an incentive on production. Under the PLI scheme the manufacturers have been incentivized to increase their capacity manifold and transform themselves into global companies. Banks can play a big role in making projects viable through their support and expertise, said the Prime Minister.
Speaking on the overall impact of financial inclusion, PM Modi said that when the country is working so hard on financial inclusion, it is very important to unlock the productive potential of the citizens.
He praised the banking sector for their enthusiasm in implementing Jan Dhan Scheme.
He gave an example of a recent research by the banking sector itself where more Jan Dhan accounts are opened in the states have led to reduction in the crime rate.
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