of banks has heartening indicators. with increasing number of bank branches, the average population per bank branch has improved from 15, 583 in 2001 to 12601 in 2012. as per latest census, 58. 7 percent households were availing of banking services in 2011 as compared to 35. 5 percent in 2001. with liberalization of the branch licensing policy and drive towards financial inclusion, the share of rural and semi urban branches in total new branches opened reached 69. 8 percent during 2011 – 12 from a mere 23. 2 percent in 2004 – 05. the share of hitherto unbanked centres in newly opened branches has been around 20 percent during 2011 – 12. further efforts are required and are being made in view of the large number of unbanked centres in the country. the reserve bank has been encouraging banks to improve banking penetration through the business correspondent ( bc ) model, allowing “ for - profit organizations ” to work as bcs, leveraging technology, including mobile technology, to deliver banking services as part of the drive to enhance financial inclusion. while there has been some progress, more ground needs to be covered before we achieve the goal of meaningful financial inclusion. the extent of financial exclusion is high when compared to some of the advanced as well as developing countries. in a cross country analysis of financial inclusion, we compare poorly at 10. 64 branches and 8. 90 atms per 0. 1 million adults, say, as against brazil, which has 46. 15 branches and 119. 63 atms per 0. 1 million of the population. in this vast financially excluded populace lies our opportunity! growth, merely in terms of numbers, would not carry any meaning unless it reaches every section of society – the vulnerable, underprivileged and the marginalized. public sector banks as well as rrbs have played a key role in expanding the branch network to rural india. however, since it has been observed that the benefits of government schemes often do not reach the intended beneficiaries, reserve bank has been encouraging banks to implement electronic benefits transfer ( ebt ). since many such social security beneficiaries reside in villages with population of less than 2000, rbi has been giving thrust on expanding the benefits of ebt to all villages. slbc convenor banks have, therefore, been advised to prepare a roadmap covering all unbanked villages with population of less than 2000 and allocate these villages to various banks for providing banking services in a time bound

, inflation and the supply side bottlenecks are some concerns that need to be quickly tackled to spur growth. the poser before india at this juncture is whether we can afford to relapse to the hindu rate of growth and be content with being considered an emerging nation forever, or should we make efforts to take our due position among the leaders in the world arena? we cannot and must not revert to the hindu rate of growth. in order to overcome these challenges, we need to focus on the key areas of productivity, innovation and reforms, both at the level of the macro economy and at the individual firm / enterprise level. these will help us overcome the various bottlenecks currently shackling our growth and put us firmly on the path of sustained high economic growth. it will ensure that we are able to leverage our strengths, some of which i would be alluding to subsequently, in order to create a conducive growth environment. these reforms need to involve all stakeholders and should, necessarily, leverage on technology, which has the potential to act as a force multiplier in our efforts towards productivity, innovation and reforms. i see that some of these topics would be the focus of the technical sessions slated for later in the day. i am sure these sessions will deliberate on how the various measures could be implemented in an effective and time bound manner. the role of the financial sector in any economy is to subserve the needs of the real economy. consequently, if the indian economy has to fully realize its optimum potential, the financial sector would have to play a pivotal part. as we all know, our financial sector is predominantly bank - centric and therefore, the performance of the banking sector is crucial to the fate of the economy. the indian banking system has come a long way since the financial sector reforms, with the banks having served the economy remarkably well over the last two decades. liberalization has resulted in greater autonomy for banks in business decisions, but with the concomitant responsibility of conducting business in line with the highest standards of corporate governance, customer service and a commitment to nation building, which encompasses financial inclusion. there is no doubt in my mind that if the economic growth engine has to churn out a powerful performance, banks would, necessarily, have to be the prime mover. the domestic credit provided by the banking sector in india stands at an abysmally low level compared to many of our emerging asian peers, let alone the advanced economies.