Banking in India: Past, Present and Future

The beginning of modern day banking in India can be traced to the 18th century when English traders came to India. Besides the traders' commercial activities, the English Agency Houses in Calcutta and Bombay began to conduct banking business. Banking during the pre-independence period was largely characterized by the existence of private banks organized as joint stock companies. Most banks were small and had private shareholding of the closely-held variety. At the time of independence in 1947, the country's banking system was considered weak. The entire banking sector was in the private sector and the credit requirements of agriculture and other needy sectors were ignored. With a view to better aligning the banking system to the needs of planning and economic necessity, the policy of social control over the banking sector began in 1967. A couple of years later, the government nationalized many major commercial banks of the country. Further decades witnessed the transformation of the banking sector as a result of financial sector reforms that were introduced as a part of structural reforms initiated in 1991. This book integrates and brings together the history of modern banking in India, with a focus on recent developments in the context of the liberalization and privatization waves sweeping across world economies.