India needs its own global giants like JP Morgan and Citibank, says Niti Aayog CEO

India requires its own global financial giants akin to JP Morgan and Citibank, according to B V R Subrahmanyam, CEO of Niti Aayog. Speaking at the CII Annual Business Summit 2024 in New Delhi, Subrahmanyam emphasized the necessity of financial services reforms to achieve this vision.

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“We need much bigger banks, more global players, and a financial sector robust enough to support Indian firms not just domestically but globally,” Subrahmanyam asserted. He stressed the importance of forward-thinking regulatory approaches to foster such growth. “Our regulator will have to look at that,” he added.

Another critical reform area highlighted by Subrahmanyam is the liberalization of India’s external sector. Reflecting on past reforms, he pointed out that the economic liberalization of 1991 and 1994, particularly India’s membership in the World Trade Organization, was instrumental in transforming the country’s industrial landscape. “As many as 90 percent of the companies that exist today owe their current scale to the reforms of that era,” he noted. The competitive environment and de-licensing efforts of the time spurred significant growth, a phenomenon that needs to be revisited and expanded.