India's financial services sector is the biggest and strongest ever: DFS secy

The three-day premier event begins with the who's who of the BFSI sector converging to debate the road ahead. Discussions ranged from setting up new banks to meet diverse credit needs to 'digital arrests', and more

- BS REPORTER

The three-day Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2025 kicked off on a high note on Wednesday with leading personalities from the finance and banking world setting the context for India's growth story against the volatile global backdrop.

Top bureaucrats, bankers, economists and thought leaders offered multiple takeaways across some 15 sessions on the opening day of the fourth edition of the summit in Mumbai.

In the inaugural session, M Nagaraju, secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, brought out the point that India’s financial services sector is currently “the biggest and strongest ever in the country’s history”. He stressed that the current strength and stability should not lead to complacency in due diligence and credit underwriting in the banking sector.

Speaking before the who's who of the financial world, Nagaraju said public sector banks (PSBs) made their highest ever profits last year and their dividend payout to shareholders was at a record high. The government’s measures, both legislative and procedural in the BFSI sector, were now showing results, he added.

About a new round of consolidation in PSBs, he said the government “remains alive to this and we continue to receive suggestions and new ideas.”

Nagaraju also called for setting up more banks for servicing the diverse credit needs of the economy. “The goal for a Viksit Bharat by 2047 with a per capita income of $18,000 to $20,000 will require more banks—large banks, midsize banks, and smaller banks...”

In his address, V Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor, government of India, said India's GDP growth could touch 7 per cent by the end of the ongoing financial year (FY26).