New Delhi, June 3 (IANS). Amid the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman CS Shetty (Challa Srinivasulu Shetty) said on Wednesday that it would be better for the economy to have no change in interest rates at present. He believes that it is important to keep an eye on the inflation situation, but stability in rates at this time will provide a balanced pace to economic activities and strengthen growth.
CS Shetty said in the City India Conference that the general perception of the market is that RBI cannot make any change in interest rates at this time. In such a situation, pause on rates will prove helpful in maintaining economic stability.
While advising the investors, the SBI Chairman said that instead of paying too much attention to the daily fluctuations of the stock market, they should understand the long-term growth potential of India. He said that India’s economy is growing rapidly on the back of banking reforms, digital infrastructure, financial inclusion and large-scale infrastructure development.
He said that despite global geopolitical uncertainties, supply chain changes and technological challenges, India has emerged as a major center of stability, strength and opportunities.
CS Shetty praised India’s digital public infrastructure and said that the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is one of the biggest achievements of the country. He said that today about 20 billion transactions are being done through UPI every month and SBI has about 30 percent stake in these.
He said the technical failure rate on SBI’s platform is only 0.01 per cent, which shows its reliability.
SBI Chairman further said that the ‘JAM trinity’ of Jan Dhan account, Aadhaar and mobile connectivity has taken financial inclusion to new heights in the country. Along with this, Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) has eliminated leakages to a great extent by delivering the benefits of government schemes directly to the beneficiaries.
He said that digital public infrastructure has ensured transparent and effective service delivery at low cost, benefiting crores of people.
CS Shetty said that India’s next growth journey will require large-scale investment. According to SBI’s internal assessment, the country may need additional investment of about Rs 200 lakh crore by the year 2030. Apart from this, there is a possibility of investment of about Rs 450 lakh crore in areas like infrastructure, manufacturing, energy transition, urban development, MSME and innovation.
He said that rural prosperity, development of cities, investment in education and health sector and globally competitive manufacturing will be the main pillars of India’s progress.
SBI Chairman also took a positive view regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI). He said that even though India may not have the world’s largest AI companies yet, India could become the world’s largest market in terms of AI adoption and use.
He informed that SBI is already using AI-based models in many areas including personal loans. The bank has also implemented the ‘Responsible AI’ framework to ensure safe and responsible use of AI.
Regarding the demand for loans, CS Shetty said that the demand for loans in various sectors including small and medium industries (SMEs) remains strong. He said that a large number of entrepreneurs are also contacting the bank under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS).
SBI Chairman said that the bank is also actively working in the field of merger and acquisition (M&A) financing with domestic and foreign banks. He said that one important deal has already been completed, while another is in the process and a bigger deal is also expected to be completed soon.
CS Shetty further said that India’s economic progress should not be measured only by stock market indices. Banking reforms, digital revolution, strong infrastructure and technological innovation have the potential to propel India to new heights in the global economy. In such a situation, investors should rise above short-term market fluctuations and trust India’s long-term growth potential.
–IANS
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