Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI)

Industrial Development Bank of India was set up to accelerate the development of the country. A number of financial institutions came into existence after independence and were catering to a variety of needs of the industry. There was a lack of co-ordinating different institutions and it led to overlapping and duplication in their efforts. At the same time some gigantic projects of national importance were not getting required financial assistance. It was in response to this need that the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) was established in 1964 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Reserve Bank of India. The bank was to act as an apex institution co-coordinating functions of all the financial institutions into a single integrated movement of development banking and supplementing their resources for industrial financing and as an agency for providing financial support to all worthwhile projects of national importance whose access to existing institutionalContinue reading

Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI)

At the same time raw industrial units were to be set up for industrializing the country. Government of India came forward to set up the Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) in July 1948 under a Special Act. The Industrial Development Bank of India, scheduled banks, insurance companies, investment trusts and co-operative banks are the shareholders of IFCI. The Government of India has guaranteed the repayment of capital and the payment of a minimum annual dividend. Since July I, 1993, the corporation has been converted into a company and it has been given the status of a Ltd. Company with the name Industrial Finance Corporations of India Ltd. IFCI has got itself registered with Companies Act, 1956. Before July I, 1993, general public was not permitted to hold shares of IFCI, only Government of India, RBI, Scheduled Banks, Insurance Companies and Co-operative Societies were holding the shares of IFCI. ManagementContinue reading

Role of development banks in financial sector

Financial institutions provide means and mechanism of transferring resources from those who have an excess of income over expenditure to those who can make productive use of the same. The commercial banks and investment institutions mobilize savings of people and channel them into productive uses. Financial institutions provide all type of assistant required infrastructural facilities Institutions e p economic persons who can take the development in the following ways. 1. Providing Funds The underdeveloped countries have low levels of capital formation. Due to low incomes, people are not able to save sufficient funds which are needed for sensing up new units and also for expansion diversification and modernization of existing units. The persons who have the capability of starting a business but does not have requisite help approach to financial institutions for help. These institutions help large number of persons for taking up some industrial activity. The addition ofContinue reading

Promotional role of development banks in India

The pace of development cannot be accelerated by providing financial assistance alone. There are factors which inhibit industrialization of an underdeveloped country. It is essential to make a correct diagnosis of those factors and plan things accordingly. The growth potential of different areas, the availability of natural resources, demand conditions, infrastructure facilities, etc. should be taken into account before deciding the pattern of industrialization of various places. The task of identification of growth potentialities and preparation of feasibility studies is not an easy task. It requires huge finances and technical expertise which is beyond the competence of entrepreneurs of under-developed countries. It is in this area where development banks can play crucial role. In addition to providing the traditional role of providing financial assistance, development banks in India are undertaking promotional role also. Some of the areas where these banks are participating are: (1) Surveys of Backward Areas Under theContinue reading

Narasimham Committee on Banking Sector Reforms (1998)

In spite of the optimistic views about the growth of banking industry in terms of branch expansion, deposit mobilization etc, several distortions such as increasing NPAs and obsolete technology crept into the system, mainly due to the global changes occurring in the world economy. In this context, the finance ministry of Government of India appointed Mr. M. Narasimham as chairman of one more committee, this time it was called as the committee on banking sector reforms. The committee was asked to “review the progress of banking sector reforms to the date and chart a programme on financial sector reforms necessary to strengthen India’s financial system and make it internationally competitive”. The Narasimham committee on banking sector reforms submitted this report to the government in April 1998. This report covers the entire issues relating to capital adequacy, bank mergers, the condition of global sized banks, recasting of banks boards etc. TheContinue reading

Recommendations of Narasimham Committee Report (1991)

The Narasimham committee (1991) assumed that the financial resources of the commercial banks from the general public and were by the banks in trust and that the bank funds were to be deployed for maximum benefit of the depositors. This assumption automatically implied that even the government had no business to endanger the solvency, health and efficiency of the nationalized banks under the pretext of using banks funds for social banking, poverty eradication, etc. Accordingly, the Narasimham committee aimed at achieving three major changes in the banking sector in India; Ensuring a degree of operational flexibility. Internal autonomy for the banks in their decision making process. Greater degree of professionalism in banking operations. Towards this end, recommendations of Narasimham committee covered such subjects as directed investments, directed credit programmes, structural of rate of interest, structural reorganization of the Indian banking system, and organization, methods and procedures of banks in India.Continue reading