India Now Among Countries With Strongest Banks; PSBs Earlier Known for NPAs, Now for Record Profits: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India is currently among the countries whose banking sector is considered to be the strongest. He added that the public sector banks (PSBs) which were earlier known for losses and non-performing assets (NPAs) are now being discussed for their record profits.

Addressing a Rozgar Mela after giving appointment letters to over 70,000 recruits virtually, PM Modi said a large number of them have been employed in the banking sector as he highlighted how it was “destroyed” under the previous dispensation before his government took corrective measures.

“Today, India is among the countries whose banking sector is considered to be the strongest,” said he said while recalling the journey of the last nine years.

PM Modi said ‘phone banking’ of the past when loans were disbursed on the phone calls of the powerful. These loans were never repaid, he said. These “scams” broke the back of the banking sector of the country, he said.

Listing the measures taken after 2014 to retrieve the situation, Modi mentioned strengthening of the management of the government banks, stress on professionalism and consolidation of small banks into large banks. He also said that by insuring deposits of up to Rs 5 lakh, more than 99 per cent of deposits became safe leading to a renewed trust in the banking system.

“By acts like the Bankruptcy Code, banks were protected from losses. Furthermore, by tightening the grip over those who looted the government property by attaching their property, the banks known for losses and NPA are being discussed for their record profit,” he said.

Expressing pride in the hard work of the employees of the banking sector, the prime minister said, “People of the banking sector never disappointed me or my vision.”

He hailed the efforts of the banking sector in making the Jan Dhan Account scheme a huge success by opening 50 crore Jan Dhan Accounts. This was a great help in transferring money into the accounts of crores of women during the pandemic.

On the MSME sector, the prime minister mentioned Mudra Yojana which provided collateral-free loans to the enterprising youth. He praised the banking sector for making the scheme a success. Similarly, the banking sector rose up to the occasion when the government doubled the loan amount for women self-help groups and helped the MSME sector by providing loans which saved 1.5 crores jobs by protecting small enterprises.