In India's goal of financial inclusion, banks make 'remarkable progress'

Number of Indians with an account in a formal financial institution increased to 77% in 2021

The Economic Survey released earlier this week said Indian banks had made “remarkable progress” in the country’s financial inclusion goals in the past ten years. Given the low levels of financial inclusion and formal identification in 2008, the magnitude of the challenges facing India a little over a decade ago was immense, it said.

The number of adults with an account in a formal financial institution increased from 35 per cent in 2011 to 77 per cent in 2021. Alongside, there has been an increase in the percentage of adults saving in a financial institution and borrowing from formal sources. Importantly, there is a decline in the access gap between the rich and the poor.