Shri Suresh Kumar Singhal, President FTCCI, Shri R Ravi Kumar, Senior Vice President FTCCI Shri K K Maheshwari, Vice President, FTCCI, Mr. Meela Jayadev, Convenor, FTCCI CEO Forum, Chief Executive Officers gathered here today, ladies and gentlemen. A very good evening to you all. 1. I am delighted to speak to you today on a topic that has always been close to my heart—the critical role of MSMEs and the importance of building confidence in lending to this vital sector. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to work closely with MSME units, witnessing both their potential and their struggles. In the early days of my career, as a young officer posted in the bustling Peenya Industrial Area, I saw firsthand the energy and resilience that defined MSMEs, as well as the unique challenges they faced. Later, mid-career, my experience deepened while working in the Mid Corporates Group of SBI, where I further understood how access to timely and adequate credit could transform these businesses. These experiences have made me keenly aware of the importance of bridging the credit

Smt. Divyadarshini IAS, Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women; Shri Shankar Narayan, CGM, NABARD, Chennai; Shri Vasimalai, Executive Director, Dhan foundation; Convenors of SLBC, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry; Smt. Uma Sankar, Regional Director, RBI, Chennai; senior bankers; Financial Literacy Counsellors; Associates and Coordinators of Centre for Financial Literacy; Financial Literacy Community Resource Persons; ladies and gentleman, I am happy to inaugurate the Conclave on Financial Literacy at Madurai today.

1. Madurai holds an important place in the history of Tamil Nadu. The city is famous for its rich heritage, and promotion of Tamil language through “Sangams”, thereby, the city is fondly referred as “sangam valartha nagaram”.

We are holding this conference of the Reserve Bank of India Ombudsmen on a very important day, namely, the World Consumer Day. This event underscores our unwavering dedication to the well-being of the consumer in the financial sector. As custodians of the financial system – whether as a regulator or regulated entities such as banks, NBFCs or other financial institutions – our success hinges not only on promoting the resilience of the system, but also significantly on the value we bring to the lives of our citizens, who form the core of the financial ecosystem. Protection of consumer interest is one of the core guiding principles of the Reserve Bank’s policies and actions. I take it that similar is the case with the regulated entities of the Reserve Bank also.

It gives me immense pleasure to be here to celebrate the Digital Payments Awareness Week organised by the Reserve Bank of India. Over the years, we have not only navigated through the fast-evolving technological innovations but also played a pivotal role, as a catalyst, in developing one of the most modern payment systems in the world, be they large value, retail or fast payments. This has been made possible by nurturing diverse payment systems in the country, namely, the bill payments, merchant payments, vendor payments, transit payments, or recurring payments.

Shri V G Sekar, Principal, College of Agricultural Banking, Heads of Priority Sector verticals of banks, Members of faculty from CAB, Ladies and Gentlemen. Good morning. 1. I thank CAB for inviting me today to discuss a critical topic that lies at the crossroads of financial institutions' responsibilities and our collective vision for a better, more sustainable world. I propose to briefly discuss the aspect of sustainable finance to begin with before coming to the theme of the conclave, that is Priority Sector Lending, as I believe that there is a strong interplay between these two.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank ASSOCHAM for inviting me to deliver this talk here today. The theme of this summit - “Financial Inclusion & Future of Financial Services in India - Vision 2030” is indeed contextual and relevant given the challenges we face at this juncture. The discussions around the issue at this summit should generate invigorating discussions and productive outcomes during the course of the day. Financial inclusion has always been an important poli

I wish to thank the organisers of the Economic Times Financial Inclusion Summit for inviting me to address this august gathering. Financial inclusion is a key driver of sustained and balanced economic growth which helps reduce income inequality and poverty. While we have made tremendous strides in this area over the years, the pandemic has created new challenges and complexities. The financial system will have a crucial role to fulfil the aspirations and needs of our

I wish to thank NCAER for inviting me to deliver the key note address at this webinar on National Strategy for Financial Education. I appreciate the thoughtful initiative of NCAER in choosing this topic for the webinar. As we inch towards the close of what has been an unprecedented year in terms of loss of lives and livelihood and the way of living in general, it would be appropriate to look at the area of financial inclusion and literacy which has both broad macro le

On behalf of the Reserve Bank of India, I am delighted to welcome Mr. Agustin Carstens, General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements to deliver the C. D. Deshmukh Memorial lecture, the seventeenth in the series. We are also honored to have Smt. and Shri Atul Deshmukh from late Shri C. D. Deshmukh’s family. A hearty welcome to all the distinguished invitees of the Reserve Bank. 2. At the outset, I would like to say a few words about Shri C. D. Deshmukh to

आज मुझे आपके गांव ‘लालपुर करौता’ में आकर और आप लोगों से मिलकर बहुत खुशी हो रही है । 2. मैं यहाँ भारतीय रिजर्व बैंक, मुम्बई से आया हूँ । रिजर्व बैंक का एक कार्यालय लखनऊ में भी है, और उधर से मेरे साथी भी आज मेरे साथ आये हैं । हमारे साथ आज यहां बैंक ऑफ इंडिया और अन्‍य बैंकों के साथ-साथ, आपके संसद सदस्‍य श्री पी. एल. पुनिया, ग्राम्य विकास मंत्री श्री अरविंद सिंह गोप, और उत्तर प्रदेश राज्‍य सरकार के वरिष्‍ठ अधिकारी भी मौजूद हैं । 3. आप सोच रहे होंगे कि भला रिजर्व बैंक को आप लोगों के पास आने की क्या जरूरत पड़ गई। आप में से कई तो ये भी सोच रहे होंगे कि रिजर्व बैंक क्‍या काम करता है, और वह काम किस प्रकार से आपके लिए उपयोगी है । 4. मैं आज आपके गांव लालपुर करौता में आउटरीच कार्यक्रम के लिए आया हूँ । ताकि मैं इस कार्यक्रम के दौरान आपके साथ कुछ समय बिता सकूं और आप की चिंताओं, आपकी समस्‍याओं को समझ सकूं । साथ ही रिजर्व बैंक के कार्य के बारे में भी आप लोगों को बता सकूं ।

Mr. Hiroyuki Obata, Deputy Governor, DICJ, Japan, Mr. Carlos Isoard, Secretary General, IADI, Switzerland, Mr. Jerzy Pruski, President, BGF, Poland, Mr. Fred S. Carns, Director, FDIC, USA, Mr. G. Gopalakrishna, Executive Director, RBI, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen. At the outset, on behalf of RBI, I extend a hearty welcome to all of you to India and especially to this fascinating state of Rajasthan. We thank IADI for agreeing to hold this conference j

1. Mr. Abdul Qadeer Fitrat, Governor, Central Bank of Afghanistan, Mr. Arun Maira, Member, Planning Commission, Mr. R. Gopalan, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Mrs. Kiran Dhingra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Mr. Kamran Shehzad, Deputy Governor, State Bank of Pakistan, Mr. S. Sridhar, Chairman and Managing Director, National Housing Bank, Mr. Paolo Martelli, Director, South Asia, International Finance Corporation, Mr. R.V.

खुशियों के इस शहर कोलकाता में होना ही हमेशा एक आनन्द विभोर करनेवाला अनुभव रहा है। क्रिसमस-पूर्व मौसम में यहाँ होने का एक विशेष आनन्द है और व्यक्तिगत रूप से मेरे लिए यह घर की याद आनेवाली एक स्मृति है। आज शाम को यहाँ पर भाषण देने हेतु मुझे आमंत्रित करने के लिए बैंकर क्लब को मेरी ओर से विशेष धन्यवाद। मुझे इस क्लब में पिछले साल हुई हमारी मुलाकात याद आ रही है जब हम अपने समय के सबसे गहरे वित्तीय संकट में थे और हम सब अपने कल के भविष्य को जानने के लिए उत्सुक और अनिश्चित थे। मेरा मानना है कि सबसे बुरा समय हमारे पीछे लगा हुआ है। दुनिया भर में और यहाँ भारत में भी ध्यान संकट प्रबंध से हटकर सुधारात्मक प्रबंध पर जा रहा है। जैसाकि होता है, हम भी करीब आधे बिलियन लोगों को गरीबी से बाहर निकालने की दीर्घावधि चुनौतियों का सामना करने की ओर लौट रहे हैं। उस विशाल कार्य को पूरा करने के लिए हमें बहुत से काम करने होंगे। उनमें से एक वित्तीय समावेशन है। आज शाम मैं अपनी बात वित्तीय समावेशन की चुनौतियों और अवसरों पर केंद्रित करना चाहूंगा।

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am truly honoured to deliver the Fedbank Hormis Memorial Foundation commemorative lecture. The illustrious list of the previous years’ speakers indicates the kind of significance this commemorative lecture has acquired over the years. The late Shri K.P.Hormis, founder of Federal Bank, was a visionary and left behind an institutional set up in the form of Federal Bank which has been doing yeoman service for well over seventy five years. The Fedb

Mr. Chairman, Ladies & Gentlemen,I am very happy to participate in this workshop and to deliver the inaugural address. I thank the organizers for this opportunity.Various measures of financial sector reform were initiated in India since 1991 and it is amply clear that these measures have now started producing durable results. In particular, these measures enabled the banking sector to face a number of challenges boldly. The prudential and supervision norms which w