Banks mobilise nearly $28 billion in NRI FCNR deposits after RBI swap facility, SBI leads among lenders

Bank's including foreign and cooperative banks, have mobilised $27.99 billion from Non-resident Indians since the Reserve Bank of India announced a US Dollar-Rupee Forex Swap Facility for fresh FCNR deposits, Parliament was informed on Monday.

RBI announced on June 5 a US dollar-rupee forex swap facility for fresh FCNR (B) deposits mobilised by banks for a minimum tenor of three years and a maximum of five years to attract foreign capital.

Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) deposits are foreign currency term deposits maintained by non-resident Indians (NRIs).

The facility came into effect on June 8, 2026 and will remain available until October 16, 2026 for deposits mobilized between June 8, 2026 and September 30, 2026, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

FCNR(B) Deposits have grown from $32558.5 million as on June 5, 2026 to $60548.7 million as on July 30, 2026, he said.

Therefore, banks mobilised $27.99 billion between June 5 and July 30, 2026.

Leading the pack of banks, SBI mobilised $4.13 billion, followed by ICICI Bank $3.7 billion, Axis Bank $1.6 billion and HDFC Bank $1.4 billion during the period, he said quoting RBI.

For strengthening the Balance of Payments and to attract foreign capital, the RBI introduced the US Dollar-Rupee Forex Swap Facility for FCNR (B) deposits, External Commercial Borrowings and Overseas Foreign Currency Borrowings.

To ensure its effectiveness various factors such as prevailing market conditions, interest rate differentials, expected returns for investors, hedging costs, compliance requirements, etc. were considered, he said.

The potential cost of providing the swap facility would depend on the quantum of foreign exchange mobilised, the maturity of the swaps and exchange rate as well as the forward premia at the time of the swap, he said.

Further, he said, the RBI has a well defined risk identification and mitigation measures in place for managing the country's foreign exchange reserves.

Replying to another question, Chaudhary said, as on June 2026, a total of 3.53 lakh domestic payment frauds have been reported amounting to Rs 489 crore across all banks including Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) as per the RBI.

To prevent these frauds, various measures have been undertaken, which include strengthening fraud risk management in banks, including issuing caution advises, advising banks for rotation and mandatory leave of staff, compliance monitoring, cyber security advisories, etc, he said.

In a separate response, Chaudhary said the country has achieved near-universal banking coverage, with 99.92 per cent of inhabited villages (6,00,868 out of 6,01,328) now served by a banking outlet (Bank branch / Business Correspondent / India Post Payments Bank (IPPB)) within a radius of 5 km, as per the data uploaded by banks on Jan Dhan Darshak (JDD) App.

This banking expansion is supported by a robust infrastructure of over 1.81 lakh bank branches, 17.36 lakh Business Correspondents (BCs), and 1.65 lakh IPPB centres, as on July 17, 2026.

To ensure accessibility of banking services in rural and remote areas, he said, the endeavour of the government is to provide a banking outlet (Bank branch / Business Correspondent / India Post Payments Bank) within 5 kilometers radius of all inhabited villages in the country.

Further, he said, the RBI has permitted Commercial Banks, Small Finance Banks, Payments Banks, Local Area Banks and Regional Rural Banks, to open bank branches anywhere in India without prior approval, provided 25 per cent are in unbanked rural areas.

As on July 17, 2026, there are 58.77 crore PMJDY accounts in the country, having a balance of Rs 3,12,414 crore.

In another reply, Chaudhary said, every Rs 1 invested under Kisan Credit Card– Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (KCC-MISS) contributes Rs 2.30 to net value addition in the agriculture & allied sector as per a third party assessment.

The MISS has played a crucial role in reducing the interest burden on farmers, with an estimated subsidy outlay of Rs 1.87 lakh crores since inception till 2024-25, he said, quoting the third party report.

The scheme has positively impacted cropping intensity and multi-season cultivation, with KCC-MISS farmers cultivating larger areas, achieving higher cropping intensity, and adopting more diversified crop portfolios across seasons, supported by reliable irrigation and concessional credit, he said.

It has improved the timeliness of input use through access to adequate working capital, and beneficiaries receiving Prompt Repayment Incentive (PRI) have demonstrated better credit discipline, thereby enhancing banks' confidence for further lending, he said.

Replying to another question, Chaudhary said as of June, 2026, more than 59.14 crore loans have been sanctioned/disbursed under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), since the launch of the Scheme in 2015.