Banks Must Aim For Global Top 10, Prioritise MSME Funding: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday (25 September) urged Indian banks to expand their scale and aspire to be among the top 10 globally, while also extending greater support to small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Speaking at the Financial Express Best Banks Awards in Mumbai, Shah said, “If banks don’t value MSMEs, it amounts to stopping their growth which is unfortunate. MSMEs have huge potential. Look at Ambani, Adani, Torrent, etc… all of them started as MSMEs.” He assured that the government stands guarantee for MSMEs.

Highlighting reforms under Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government, Shah said, “Over the years, we have strongly enforced ease of doing business where 40,000 compliances have been removed… We are shortly moving forward to Jan Vishwas Bill 2 with zero criminal economy.”

He noted that while developed nations were struggling with 1–2 per cent growth and rising debt, India was growing at 7–8 per cent.

“Jo cheez banane main Bharat ke logon ka pasina baha hain, uska upayog karna chahiye (People should buy things produced in the country with Indian sweat and labour),” he said, stressing the Swadeshi philosophy.

On coalition politics, he remarked, “An alliance can never be a constraint for the development of the country. There is no question of (coalition compulsions) being speed-breaker.”

Referring to tax reforms, Shah added, “From Nehru ji till today, no one has implemented such a major tax cut as PM Modi has through the Next Gen GST reforms.”

He pointed out that NPAs, which stood at 19 per cent under the UPA, had fallen to 2.5 per cent under the Modi government. “We have focussed on four Rs – Recognise, Recover, Recapitalise and Reforms,” he said.

Shah also highlighted India’s digital transformation, saying, “Today, there are 56 crore accounts and our deposits stand at Rs 2.64 lakh crore… The digital transformation is no longer confined to cities but moved into villages.”

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