On the road to 75 new digital banks, there will be twists and turns

The finance minister's Washington announcement signals an acceleration of the government's plans but there are many basic questions to address still

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that “75 digital-only banks and non-banking financial companies” (NBFCs) are to be set up this year has caused a ripple of excitement. It is a reiteration of her stance in the Union Budget but in a much more public forum, the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington, on Tuesday.
 

The announcement clearly signals an acceleration of the government’s plans for digital-only banks. But these plans have to be seen in the context of the Reserve Bank of India’s guidelines for the “Establishment of Digital Banking Units (DBUs)” on April 7 this year, and a working