Page 3 - Financial Inclusion

Share of North East in MF assets more than doubles to Rs 40,324 cr in 4 yrs

The share of North East in overall mutual fund assets in the country more than doubled in the last 4 years to Rs 40,324 crore in March 2024, spurred by increased awareness and growing interest among retail investors to invest in equities, a report by ICRA Analytics said. Also, this signals a growing appetite among investors from smaller towns and cities to invest in mutual funds. The combined share of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura rose to 0.73 per cent of the total average asset under management (AAUM) of the mutual fund industry, which stood at Rs 55.01 lakh crore in March 2024. The share was around 0.67 per cent in March 2020, when the industry's AAUM was at Rs 24.71 lakh crore. Data for Sikkim was not provided. In March 2020, these states had an asset base of Rs 16,446 crore as compared to Rs 40,324 crore in March this year. "Though the contribution of these states to the total AAUM of the industry is still small in percentage terms,

Protecting Streedhan, tailored dressing: Top personal finance stories

Our top stories this week tell you about a woman's inalienable financial right and why tailored clothes are better than readymade

Fin inclusion, digital growth to drive momentum: Airtel Payments Bank CEO

Airtel Payments Bank CEO Anubrata Biswas is optimistic that the payments bank momentum in India will yield strong growth horizons and opportunities in the coming years, supported by financial inclusion imperatives and rapid pace of economic and digital growth. In an interview to PTI, Biswas said FY24 has been a "remarkable year" for Airtel Payments Bank, which has been growing in double digits across all key metrics such as users, revenue, and profits. "We are still closing the books (for the fiscal) but as we stand today, we are going to see high double-digit growth rates on revenue, profit and users continue," he said. Airtel Payments Bank has nearly 500,000 banking points spread across the country, today. It offers end-to-end digital banking solutions, along with a bouquet of digital financial services -- insurance, lending, and investment solutions. Airtel Payments Bank has three clear segments when it comes to serving customers across geographies -- the urban digital, the rur

There is money coming in: How cash recyclers are set to get a big leg up

Going ahead, a customer can take a wad of notes to a CRM and use UPI to activate the process of depositing it rather than insert their debit card into the slot

Govt revamps pharma scheme, entails financial assistance to drug cos

The Department of Pharmaceuticals has revamped a scheme which entails financial assistance to drug companies to help them upgrade their facilities to produce medicines conforming to global standards, an official release said on Monday. As per the revamped Pharmaceuticals Technology Upgradation Assistance Scheme (PTUAS), the government has expanded the scope of the initiative beyond MSMEs to include any pharmaceutical manufacturing unit with a turnover of less than Rs 500 crore that requires technology and quality upgradation, the Chemicals and Fertilisers ministry said in a statement. Preference however remains for MSMEs, supporting smaller players in achieving high-quality manufacturing standards, it added. The revamped scheme also introduces more flexible financing options, emphasising subsidies on reimbursement basis, over traditional credit-linked approach. This flexibility is designed to diversify the financing options of the participating units, facilitating a more widesprea

Banks must give customers choice to select credit card network: RBI

Some arrangements between card networks and issuers are 'not conducive' for customers, it says

Majority of states, union territories have single-digit MF penetration

Per capita investment is less than Rs 10,000 in eight of them

What makes Indian fintech fast and furious, but also a little fraudulent?

Know-your-customer, or KYC, regulations aren't easy anywhere. But fintech adoption in India has done more than just open the floodgates to financial inclusion

Highlights of the day: Investments are inclined towards India, says FM

From Bihar govt launching a probe into Tejashwi Yadav's dept to Intel discussing financial support with US govt, catch all the latest updates from around the world

450 mn Jan Dhan accounts have accumulated Rs 2.1 trillion: Anurag Thakur

Addressing an audience of the officials and employees of the bank, the Minister at the very outset, congratulated Federal Bank for an all-time high share price

Bill for NFIR almost ready; may be introduced in next session: DEA secy

Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth has said that a draft Bill for setting up a National Financial Information Registry (NFIR) is almost ready and it may be introduced in the July session. The objective is to build a public infrastructure for credit-related information and the right information can be made available by the NFIR to lending agencies. A National Financial Information Registry will serve as the central repository of financial and ancillary information. This will facilitate efficient flow of credit, promote financial inclusion, and foster financial stability. "Stakeholder consultations on the draft bill are over now and it is almost ready. We will shortly take it to the Cabinet for its approval but introduction in this session will not be possible," Seth told PTI in an interview. However, he said, the Bill may be introduced in the July session. The July session would be the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha after the general elections in the next couple of months. .

Budget 2024: Women entrepreneurs advocate inclusive policies, skilling

Women entrepreneurs and leaders highlight key areas, including healthcare, maternity benefits, education, and skill training, where more inclusive policies could be drafted in Budget 2024

For women, it's a long walk to financial inclusion

Designing financial services for women makes good business sense. Women have lower defaults, tend to save more and make timely repayments compared to men

Sikkim achieved extensive financial inclusion covering remote villages: FM

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday lauded the Sikkim government for helping the Himalayan state achieve extensive financial inclusion, covering remote villages and habitats. She also congratulated banks and other financial institutions for the success story in Sikkim. "Sikkim has done extremely well to set up bank branches and ATM kiosks in all six districts, covering remote villages and habitats to make the mission of financial inclusion a great success," Sitharaman said at a credit outreach programme here. The minister said there are 32 bank branches and 36 ATMs in Sikkim per one lakh population in comparison to the national average of 14. "The state capital Gangtok alone has 43 bank branches and 58 ATMs per one lakh population," she said, adding that women and youth are the biggest beneficiaries of financial inclusion in Sikkim. Sitharaman also handed certificate of loans worth Rs 402 crore to 3,828 beneficiaries under various central schemes, noting that the

Sustainable finance will foster economic growth: Deputy Guv Swaminathan J

He said that lenders need to go beyond mere compliance and must imbue the organisation's practices with sustainable finance principles in order to foster a culture of financial inclusion

Jan-Dhan scheme biggest instrument of financial inclusion: FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), launched in 2014, has emerged as the biggest instrument of bringing financial inclusion in the country. Delivering the inaugural address at Kautilya Economic Conclave 2023, the minister said benefits under more than 50 government schemes are being directly transferred into the beneficiaries' bank accounts, and PMJDY has played an important role. She also said when the scheme was launched, a certain section of people had made "snide" remarks saying public sector banks would be under pressure as these are zero balance accounts. However, these accounts have a balance of more than Rs 2 lakh crore, Sitharaman said. In her address she also spoke elaborately on climate financing and challenges associated with it. The minister also said that multilateral institutions including Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) have become less effective in the current global situation. Sitharaman also ...

RBI's financial inclusion index printed at 60.1% in March 2023, shows data

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

The next orbit of financial inclusion will be in the offline world

Payment solutions will allow transactions when connectivity is poor or if there is a systems breakdown

Focus on four 'Is' to make India a developed nation by 2047: Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the focus of the government is on four Is -- infrastructure, investment, innovation and inclusiveness -- to make India a developed nation by 2047. She said India has necessary wherewithal to meet the goal set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Besides several investor-friendly reforms undertaken by the government, she said, India has a very vibrant young population and the emphasis on skilling them to suit the requirement of the economy would yield dividend. With the aim to build India a developed country by 2047, she said "the emphasis has been on four different issues (Is). We are looking at infrastructure (first I) in a very big way. In the last 3 to 5 years, consistently, the public expenditure for infrastructure building has been ramped up significantly and it will reach Rs 10 lakh crore in 2023-24." With infrastructure comes investment (second I), she said, adding that emphasis on investment will promote greater participation

Financial services secy asks banks to achieve financial inclusion targets

Financial services secretary Vivek Joshi has urged public sector banks to achieve the targets allocated to them under various schemes for financial inclusion for the current financial year at the earliest. During a review meeting with the top management of state-owned banks and Nabard chairman, Joshi exhorted the banks to expeditiously clear the sanction and disbursement pendency of applications under PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme. He further urged banks to devise the strategy and step up efforts to increase the digital onboarding of street vendors and scale up their digital payments, the finance ministry said in a statement on Thursday. PM SVANidhi scheme envisages empowerment of street vendors through hassle free access to affordable credit and their digital onboarding for their economic development. During the meeting, he reviewed the progress under various social security (Jan Suraksha) schemes, including Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Pradh