Banks in India have a huge opportunity to be agents of social change and transformation as rural India presents huge opportunities for growth, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Friday.
At a function to mark 60 years of the ICICI Group, Mr. Modi said, “Aspirations among the rural population are the same as those of people in urban areas, and rural economic development presents a huge opportunity.” Rural India offers opportunities for the corporate sector that can spur the economic growth of the country, he added.
To mark the occasion, ICICI Bank announced the creation of the “ICICI Digital Village” at Akodara in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat to enable villagers to use technology in banking, payments, education, health care and other services. Cashless transactions, paperless textbooks, with children reading books on LED screens and tablets, telemedicine and Wi-Fi connectivity make the village a pioneer in the country.
Commending the effort, Mr. Modi said that in India, the saving habit was very strong as in most of Asia. “But people in rural India buy gold. The challenge for the banking sector is to reduce the need to buy gold,” he said.
Asserting that the banking sector needed to break the mindset that considered gold a safe haven, Mr. Modi said, “There should be a change in the mindset so that cashless transactions can be encouraged and can replace the perceived safety and security that gold offers. There is a golden opportunity for cashless transactions to be an alternative to gold.”
He said the banks should compete to offer more cashless transactions. “Banks can be agents of social transformation, and cashless transactions will bring down black money significantly in the system,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, “The challenging and troubled times we are passing through are capable of becoming a turning point in our economy. The days ahead are going to be very exciting.”
He said the government had set a target of getting 7.5 crore families within its financial inclusion drive between August 15, 2014 and January 26, 2015. “We exceeded the target in December itself. We will pursue our road map consistently and doggedly and ensure that none of the steps we take give a contrarian impression,” Mr. Jaitley said. “The time has now come to enter the next phase and give a spurt to the Indian economy. We need a spurt in investment and need to concentrate on infrastructure and improve Indian manufacturing in a big way. The challenge is to give a spurt to domestic and international investment and for this, banks, both public sector and private, will be the catalyst. This is one opportunity we cannot afford to miss.”
Chanda Kochhar, managing director and chief executive officer, ICICI Bank, said the bank continued to roll out innovative and convenient solutions for customers in both urban and rural India leveraging technology. “We are proud to have converted Akodara in Gujarat into a digital village. We hope that it will catalyse similar initiatives across the country and recreate rural India.”
Ms. Kochhar said the digital village initiative had three dimensions — access to banking and seamless banking services; leveraging technology in social sectors for improvement in the lives of the villagers and creating enabling infrastructure to make technology available and access and disseminate information.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Governor Vidyasagar Rao were present.
