The 13th IMC Banking and Finance Conference was held at IMC Mumbai by IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Bhagwat Karad, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Finance, delivered the opening address virtually in the presence of distinguished banking and finance luminaries. He spoke at the session titled “Harnessing Banking and Finance to Drive India’s Growth.” Mr. Anant Singhania, President of the IMC, Mr. Arijit Basu, Chairman of the IMC’s Banking, NBFC, and Finance Committee, Shri Ajit Mangrulkar, Director General of the IMC, Mr. Sanjay Mehta, Deputy Director General of the IMC, and Ms. Sheetal Kalro, Deputy Director General of the IMC were among the key guests at the conference.
The Conference brought together leaders from industry and government to explore a variety of themes relevant to promoting equality to India’s financial sector. Panellists and moderators from firms including State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Belrise Industries, Shriram Finance Ltd., Profectus Capital, Incred Wealth, and Tata Capital discussed topics such as technology, insurance, mutual funds, and credit flow and co-lending with banks. The day was jam-packed with useful insights that shed light on how to create a more equitable financial ecosystem in India.
At the inaugural address, Shri. Bhagwat Karad, said, “I am happy to address this conference organized by IMC on an important topic like “Harnessing Banking and Finance to Drive India’s Growth’. India has made significant economic gains in recent years, making it the fifth biggest economy on the global stage. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, India’s Government has instituted a number of measures under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in order to bring relief to various industries. These initiatives have made great strides in supporting India during this difficult time. The MSME sector has benefited greatly from the steps taken by the government to promote financial inclusion. Prior to FY 2014, there were very few banking accounts available. Through PM Jan Dhan Yojana and zero balance accounts, banks have been able to penetrate remote areas, villages, and colonies that were previously underserved. The JAM trinity (Jan Dhan Account-Aadhaar-Mobile) has facilitated faster Direct Benefit Transfers (DBTs) of welfare subsidies into bank accounts of people in need. In addition, schemes such as Mudra and Pradhan Mantri Swamidhi Yojana are actively helping to drive economic growth at a local level and bolster the financial ecosystem across India.”
Shri. Anant Singhania, President, IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry said, “At the ideal time for India to ascend to a global leadership role, this conference provided an opportunity to discuss potential strategies for making Indian banking and financial sectors beneficial for sustained growth. The modernized financial infrastructure has seen advancements like digital payments, neo-banking, NBFCs and FinTechs that have greatly improved India’s inclusivity of financial services and helped fuel the credit cycle. We hope to utilize our industry strengths in order to reach this goal.”
