New Delhi, August 17: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said the government will soon constitute a high-level committee to comprehensively review India’s banking sector and align it with the country’s next phase of economic growth.
Addressing the two-day PSB Confluence in New Delhi, Sitharaman said the announcement of the high-powered committee on ‘Banking for Viksit Bharat’ is expected shortly. The panel will examine the banking sector and submit its recommendations to the government.
The committee was proposed by Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2026-27 to assess the sector’s requirements as India moves towards its long-term development goals. Its mandate includes safeguarding financial stability, financial inclusion and consumer protection while supporting the next phase of growth.
The proposed review is aimed at ensuring that India’s banking system has the scale and capacity required to meet the country’s growing financing needs. Sitharaman had earlier said the exercise should not be viewed narrowly through the lens of public sector bank mergers.
The government has also highlighted the need to strengthen the role of banks and financial institutions in providing adequate credit to businesses, infrastructure projects and the wider economy as India works towards becoming a developed economy.
The proposed panel comes at a time when the government has been focusing on strengthening the financial sector, improving the efficiency of public sector institutions and expanding access to credit.
The Budget had also proposed restructuring the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) to improve scale and efficiency in the public sector non-banking financial company segment.
The committee’s recommendations are expected to provide a roadmap for further reforms in India’s banking sector and help align financial-sector capacity with the country’s long-term growth ambitions.
