Financial Inclusion Index

Reserve Bank's FI-Index, which captures the extent of financial inclusion in the country, rose 4.48 per cent during the year ending March 2026, the central bank said on Thursday. The Reserve Bank of India had constructed a composite Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) in consultation with concerned stakeholders, including the government. The annual index was first published in August 2021 for the fiscal year ending March 2021. "Index for the year ending March 2026 has since been compiled. The value of FI-Index for March 2026 stands at 70.0 vis-a-vis 67.0 in March 2025, with growth witnessed across all sub-indices," the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said. The improvement in the FI-Index this year is mainly on account of an uptick in usage, reflecting the deepening of financial inclusion, it added. The FI-Index has been conceptualised as a comprehensive index incorporating details of banking, investments, insurance, postal, as well as the pension sector, in consultation with the ...

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The index is composed of three key parameters - access, usage, and quality - all of which have shown improvement this year

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The FI Index was introduced in 2021 to capture the extent of financial inclusion throughout the country

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Financial inclusion is a major step towards inclusive growth which ensures the overall economic development of the marginalised sections of the society, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Sunday. The success of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) since August 28, 2014 is reflected in terms of opening of over 46 crore bank accounts with deposit balance of Rs 1.74 lakh crore with its expanded coverage to 67 per cent rural or semi-urban areas as well as 56 per cent of women Jan Dhan account holders, she said on the eighth anniversary of the flagship financial inclusion scheme. "Continuation of PMJDY beyond 2018 saw a marked shift in approach to meet challenges and requirements of the emerging FI (financial inclusion) landscape in the country. "There has been a shift in focus from 'every household' to 'every adult', with added emphasis on usage of accounts by enhancing Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) flows through these accounts, promoting digital payments through the use

The index has risen to 56.4 in March 2022, against 53.9 as of March 2021

The RBI's composite financial inclusion index (FI-Index) capturing the extent of financial inclusion across the country rose to 56.4 in March 2022, showing growth across all parameters

Financial inclusion will continue to be the policy priority for the central bank, to make the post-pandemic recovery more inclusive and sustainable, Das said

Jaitley said the financial inclusion index would create an element of competition among states with each of them vying for last-mile connectivity in banking