India plans to develop at least two public sector banks (PSBs) that can rank among the top 20 global lenders by assets as part of its long-term ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’ vision, a senior government official said during the ongoing PSB Manthan 2025, as per news agency PTI. Currently, only State Bank of India (SBI) and HDFC Bank appear among the world’s top 100 banks, ranked 43rd and 73rd, respectively.The two-day conclave, organised by the department of financial services (DFS), is focused on preparing PSBs for future growth, modernisation, and global competitiveness, the official added. Key discussions include strengthening corporate governance, improving customer experience, enhancing risk management, cybersecurity, workforce transformation, and the use of artificial intelligence to modernise banking operations.The PSBs’ financial performance has seen substantial improvement. In FY25, cumulative net profit of the 12 PSBs reached a record Rs 1.78 lakh crore, up 26% from the previous year, with SBI contributing over 40% at Rs 70,901 crore (PTI). Punjab National Bank reported the highest net profit growth at 102% to Rs 16,630 crore. Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) have also reduced to 2.58% as of March 2025, down from 9.11% in 2021, as per ET.The conclave also addressed priority sector lending, particularly to agriculture and MSMEs, as non-food credit growth eased to 9.9% year-on-year in July 2025. Discussions emphasised improving the CASA ratio, diversifying operations, and fortifying risk management to absorb economic shocks.Participants included DFS secretary M Nagaraju, SBI chairman CS Setty, Punjab National Bank CEO Ashok Chandra, RBI deputy governor Swaminathan J, and chief economic adviser V Anantha Nageswaran. The meeting also revisited reforms under EASE and EASErise, aimed at improving digitalisation, customer service, HR incentives, and collaboration among banks (PTI).The government highlighted the importance of organic growth and operational autonomy for banks to achieve global scale, signalling a decisive push for India’s banking sector to play a prominent role internationally by 2047.
