Government's financial inclusion mission is well intentioned, but it may be putting a severe strain on the banking sector.
Instructions were issued on holding loan camps in the last week of September.
USAID looks forward to working with each to make financial inclusion a long-lasting and sustainable reality in India.
South leads; North-East at bottom but moves ahead, finds out the IndiaSpend Team
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is addressing the nation for the seventh time from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day on Saturday and it will be his second speech of the second term in office.
'Unless banks focus on the Rs 10-15 lakh loan segment, growing affordable housing will remain a challenge.'
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced six new schemes and increased the subsidised Kisan Credit Card (KCC) loan limit to Rs 7 lakh from Rs 5 lakh, targeting everything from unemployment to crop productivity enhancement across the country. Presenting her eighth budget speech in Parliament, Sitharaman positioned agriculture as "the first engine of growth" and unveiled the Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana, a flagship program targeting 100 agri-districts grappling with low productivity, moderate crop intensity, and below-average credit parameters.
'Today, let us reaffirm our commitment to strive to realise Gandhiji's dreams. His watchwords, truth and nonviolence, will continue to remain relevant for the whole world. He also taught us that rights and duties are but the two sides of the coin - indeed, the true source of rights is duty. Today we recall his lessons in compassion too - compassion not only for our human neighbours but also for our other neighbours, namely, flora and fauna, rivers and mountains.'
These are the highlights of the Union Budget 2025-26 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Saturday.
The meeting will review annual financial performance of public sector banks, credit offtake in the economy, priority sector lending and progress made under various social sector schemes, including Atal Pension Yojana (APY) and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.
Around 10 crore bank accounts opened under the Jan Dhan scheme.
The court was hearing petitions challenging the Aadhaar scheme.
Trai chairman Rajiv Khullar says, India has to pull up its stocks in order to achieve financial inclusion.
Eight out of about 40 schemes are with the nomenclature starting Pradhan Mantri, but except Gramin Sadak and Rozgar Yojana, most others go barely acknowledged.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lauded the Union Budget as a "people's budget" that fulfills the dreams of every Indian and said that it is a "force-multiplier" that will boost consumption, investment and growth. He highlighted a host of measures for different sectors, including welfare initiatives for gig workers, tax relief for the middle class, and support for the manufacturing sector.
The Jan Dhan scheme restricts the scope of life insurance cover to bring down burden on the exchequer.
Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman has presented a forward-looking Budget, reinforcing the government's commitment to 'Reform, Perform, and Transform'.
More than 50 per cent of SIP accounts come from semi-urban and rural areas.
Recent documents by NITI Aayog and periodic labour force surveys on employment show that the importance of agriculture is rising in the Indian economy.
As the Jan-Dhan scheme completes a month since its official launch, reports coming in from various parts of the country suggest the stated target of 75 million new accounts will be achieved much before January 26 next year.
Post Office has 1,54,000 rural branches.
The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana will provide accident insurance of Rs 100,000 to all people who open bank accounts under this scheme.
He advised banks to facilitate appropriate credit expansion.
'Our attempt to honour the taxpayer has been since 2014 and more actively since 2019-2020 onwards.'
The Budget will 'further reignite our growth engine, signalling the dawn of a prosperous future.'
High interest rate, policy uncertainty in the year of elections, along with risk aversion led to slow takeoff in credit demand on the corporate front.
Debit card payments remained sluggish due to the surge in digital transactions after the pandemic, and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has emerged as the most popular mode of money transfer, particularly for small value transactions, according to RBI data. In July 2020, the total debit card spends stood at Rs 2.81 trillion, as compared to Rs 3.15 trillion in July 2023, reflecting a growth of 11.96 per cent. UPI spends have seen a whopping growth of 428 per cent, zooming from Rs 2.90 trillion to Rs 15.33 trillion during the same period, the data revealed.
The BJP's challenge is whether it can again deflate a Congress, which now looks reinvigorated and has adopted sharper messaging around its 'guarantees', and several regional parties, especially in Bihar, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
Of the total cash outgo Rs 40,000 crore is towards enhanced expenditure under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program and Rs 33,771.48 crore have been sought for direct benefit transfer under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and National Social Assistance Programme.
Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's style of functioning, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said the leader neither sleeps nor allows his Cabinet colleagues to do so.
Enthused by India's financial inclusion drive, US-based Accion, one of the biggest micro finance organisations in the world, has renewed its focus in India. Michael Schlein, bottom, left, chief executive officer of Accicon, tells Namrata Acharya in an email interview the Wall Street and Silicon Valley are eager to participate in opportunities presented by the issuance of the small finance and payment bank licences, the expanded banking correspondent opportunities, and the Jan-Dhan Yojna.
Recently, the government announced yet another ambitious scheme aimed at providing health insurance to 50 crore individuals.
The government scheme has a long way to go before its ultimate goals of universal financial inclusion and financial literacy are achieved.
Seeking to rope in youngsters to promote cashless transactions, Modi said for every person you introduce to the BHIM app, you will get a cash back of Rs 10.
'The focus needs to shift towards the ability to collect payments, particularly in tier-3 to tier-4 areas where acceptance is still lacking.'
The NDA government has asked states to enrol all MNREGA workers under the three newly-launched social security schemes.
The applicant must have an operational savings bank account.
It is likely he will rope in an international ATM manufacturer as a strategic partner with equity stake.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman on Friday met her counterparts in Singapore and Canada and discussed various issues, including economy, health and opportunities for collaboration. Sitharaman met UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, Singapore Finance Minister Lawrence Wong and Canada's Deputy Prime Minister & Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on the sidelines of the G-20 Joint Finance and Health Ministers' meeting. "Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman had an engaging discussion with @cafreeland Dy. Prime Minister & Finance Minister of Canada on the sidelines of #G20 Finance & Health Ministers Meeting in #Rome. The Ministers discussed various issues, including economic and health cooperation," a Finance Ministry tweet said.
Attacking the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the country has suffered due to 'backseat driving' and 'remote control' and warned people of Assam against an unstable government in the state.
