Government sets up high-level banking committee for Viksit Bharat

The government has constituted a high-level committee on Banking for Viksit Bharat to review India’s banking sector and recommend structural, institutional, regulatory and legislative reforms to make it globally competitive, financially inclusive and resilient.

Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the setting up of the committee in her Budget speech for 2026-27.

Suresh N. Patel, former Central Vigilance Commissioner, will chair the six-member committee. The other members are Shirish Chandra Murmu, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India; Padmaja Chunduru, former MD and CEO of Indian Bank; and N S Vishwanathan, former Deputy Governor of the RBI. The Joint Secretary (Banking), Department of Financial Services, will be the Member Secretary.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the committee will have a tenure of six months and will review the banking sector in line with the government's objective of building a “Viksit Bharat” by 2047.

Committee to review banking rules

The committee will assess existing banking practices and prudential norms and identify global best practices that can be adapted for India. It will also prepare a roadmap for creating “globally competitive banks”.

The panel will review the existing regulatory and legal framework for banks, including Regional Rural Banks and cooperative banks. It will recommend reforms to improve efficiency and enable “ease of doing banking for Viksit Bharat”, the government said. The committee will also assess the long-term capital requirements of banks, Development Financial Institutions and Non-Banking Financial Companies. It will recommend funding sources and mechanisms needed to support credit growth.

Another part of its mandate is to examine differences in the cost of capital for businesses and suggest policy options to boost private investment and support sustainable growth. The committee has also been asked to prepare a roadmap for AI and digital innovation in banking institutions, along with safeguards against cyber risks.

It will also suggest a strategy for talent acquisition and capacity building to create a “future-ready workforce” for the banking sector. The government has included AI and digital innovation as part of the banking review as financial institutions increasingly adopt new technologies across their operations. The committee will examine how this technology adoption can be supported while addressing associated cyber risks.

Priority sector lending to be reviewed

The committee will review the Priority Sector Lending framework and the Lead Bank Scheme to assess their relevance and effectiveness. It will examine how these frameworks can support “inclusive, balanced, and data-driven credit delivery” in line with changing economic priorities and financial inclusion goals. Priority Sector Lending requires banks to extend credit to specified sectors of the economy, while the Lead Bank Scheme focuses on improving coordination between banks and other stakeholders for credit delivery.

The committee will also make recommendations on any other matter referred to it by the Government of India. The government said the exercise is aimed at recommending reforms that can strengthen India's banking sector and support the country's long-term development goals under the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.