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The Indian banking system is one of the country’s most stable and long-serving enterprises. For decades, the major Indian banks have been providing savings accounts, loans, and insurance to the country’s vast population. However, with the liberalisation of the economy and the entry of new banks, competition among banks has resulted in digital services, ATMs, and internet banking, among other things, thereby strengthening the banking industry. HDFC, State Bank of India, ICICI, PNB, Axis Bank, Canara Bank, and Yes Bank are among the top Indian banks.
Top 10 banks (2017)
The following are India’s largest and most powerful banks in 2017:
1st Rank: HDFC Bank – HDFC Bank Limited, headquartered in Mumbai, was founded in August 1994 as a banking and financial services organisation. HDFC began operations as a Scheduled Commercial Bank in January 1995 and has subsequently risen to become India’s largest bank. The total number of branches (including extension counters) and ATMs in the network as of March 31, 2017, were 4700+ branches and 12260 ATMs, respectively, dispersed across 2600+ cities. HDFC’s current asset base is worth INR 86,384,021 lakhs.
2nd Rank: SBI – State Bank of India is a government-owned public-sector banking and financial services organisation located in Mumbai, Maharashtra. With a balance sheet of INR 41 trillion, 277,000 employees, 500 million clients, more than 22,500 branches and 58,000 ATMs, it is the largest bank in India. This will propel SBI into the top 50 worldwide banks.
3rd Rank: ICICI Bank – ICICI Bank (Indian Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation) is a worldwide financial services corporation headquartered in Mumbai. In 1994, ICICI Bank was established in Vadodara, Gujarat. As of March 2017, ICICI Bank had 4,850 branches and 13,882 ATMs across India. ICICI provides a wide range of financial services and banking products to corporate and retail customers in banking, life and non-life insurance, venture capital, and asset management.
4th Rank: Axis Bank – It began as UTI Bank in 1993 after the Indian government allowed new private banks to open. It changed its name to Axis Bank in 2003. It is India’s third-largest private sector bank, with headquarters in Mumbai. It has a market valuation of about US$ 16 billion and serves both consumers and businesses with a variety of banking services. It is one of the top 10 banks in India and has many customers.
5th Rank: Punjab National Bank – The Punjab National Bank was founded in 1894 and is a state-owned business situated in New Delhi. Various members of the Swadeshi movement founded PNB, and it has since become a notable bank in the Indian financial sector, with Lala Lajpat Rai being closely associated with it. Punjab National Bank provides banking and financial services to both people and businesses.
6th Rank: Bank of Baroda – Bank of Baroda, headquartered in Baroda, Gujarat, is one of India’s largest and fastest-growing banks. Bank of Baroda was nationalised in 1969. As of September 2016, it had a total asset base of about INR 3.58 trillion and a network of 5493 branches in India and abroad and 10,441 ATMs. It has more than 100 branches in 24 countries, with 61 bank branches and the rest being subsidiaries and representative offices.
7th Rank: Canara Bank – Ammembal Subba Rao founded Canara Bank Hindu Permanent Fund in Mangalore in 1906, making it one of its earliest public sector banks. Canara Bank was nationalised in 1969 and is headquartered in Bengaluru. The bank had a network of 6000+ branch offices and 10,000+ ATMs scattered across India at the end of March 2017.
8th Rank: YES Bank – It is the newest of the bunch and the fastest expanding private sector bank. The company headquarter is in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It has evolved into a “Full-Service Commercial Bank” with business lines in Corporate Banking, Financial Markets, Investment Banking, Corporate Finance, Branch Banking, Digital Banking, and Wealth Management that have gradually expanded across the country. It has 1,000 branches and 1,800 ATMs spread over 29 states and seven union territories.
9th Rank: Kotak Mahindra – It is a financial services corporation founded by Uday Kotak in 1965 as Kotak Mahindra Finance Limited. Kotak Mahindra Bank provides a wide range of financial services and banking products to corporate and retail customers through several delivery channels and specialised subsidiaries. In addition, it offers personal finance, investment banking, life insurance, and wealth management services.
10th Rank: Union Bank of India – The Union Bank of India was established in 1919 and is India’s largest government-owned bank. The government holds 63 per cent of the share capital of the Union Bank of India. Consumer banking, corporate banking, finance and insurance, investment banking, mortgage loans, private banking, and wealth management are among the services provided by the Union Bank of India. UBI has a total asset value of INR 404,695.90 crore.
Conclusion
Government banks dominate the Indian banking sector. However, even among the strongest Indian banks, the private sector has a significant presence. The Reserve Bank of India, or RBI, is the country’s central bank. There are about 160,000 ATMs in India, most held by the country’s top banks. The banking landscape is poised to shift further as the Indian government prioritises digitisation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ireland on September 23, 2015. It was the second time an Indian Prime Minister had visited Ireland. The first being Jawaharlal Nehru’s visit in 1956. Ireland is an island nation located in Northwestern Europe and surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean.
The Prime Minister of Ireland, Enda Kenny, had hosted PM Modi during his visit. The PM was attended by other dignitaries such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charles Flanagan, and Ireland’s Ambassador to India, Feilim McLaughlin. The main aim of the visit was to create stronger ties and improve trade and cultural relations. Described below is the impact of the PM’s Ireland visit.
Impact on trade and commerce
India and Ireland have strong bilateral trade and business relations. Before the PM’s visit, trades with Ireland were valued at €650 million in business in 2014. This included exports worth €248m and imports worth €402 million.
The indigenous exports increased from €32 million in 2012 to €55 million in 2014. In 2019, the total bilateral trade was around €1.2 billion. The exports and the imports have also increased to €636 million and €480 million respectively. Currently, the total trade between India and Ireland is valued at €4.2 billion. This resulted from improved bilateral ties between the two nations, owing to Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Ireland.
Indian Companies in Ireland
Many Indian companies carry out trade and commerce in Ireland. They provide services to Irish markets and consumers across various industries. Pharmaceutical giants such as Reliance Genemedix and Amneal Pharmaceuticals operate in Ireland. Major IT companies such as Wipro, Infosys, TCS, and HCL also have a strong presence in the country. The trade relations were bolstered after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ireland.
Other companies like Crompton Greaves, Deepak Fasteners, Jain irrigation systems, and Shapoorji Pallonji provide consumer goods and services. Likewise, many Irish companies conduct their business in the Indian market. These companies include pharmaceutical and nutrition players like ICON and Glanbia, IT firms like Globoforce and other companies like Keventer, CRH Taxback Group, and Connolly Red Mills.
Impact on Education
Ireland has been a coveted destination for higher education for Indian students. Over 5000 Indian students have enrolled for higher studies in various institutions in Ireland. The students are admitted to engineering, technology, medicine and management colleges. More than 30 research agreements have been signed between the two nations that allow institutes in both countries to collaborate.
Many reputed institutes like Trinity College, Dublin, and Thapar University, Patiala, have signed MOUs for engineering and science disciplines programmes. Thus, Ireland is an essential collaborator in graduate and doctoral research. This collaboration is also considered an impact of the PM’s Ireland visit.
Indian Community in Ireland
Ireland is diplomatically significant for India also due to the large number of Indian citizens residing there. The Indian origin population is approximately 45,000 people, of whom 18,500 are Non-Resident Indians (NRI), and others are Persons of Indian Origin (PIO). The majority of the residents are working professionals employed in engineering, healthcare and management positions.
It has helped in establishing many policies for the Indian origin population. Two such policies in practice are wearing hijab as a part of the police uniform and the non-requirement of obtaining an additional work permit for the spouse or the partner of Critical Skill Employment Permit holders.
Cultural Impact
As a result of a large population of Indian origin citizens in Ireland and the relationship between the two nations, Ireland promotes Indian culture in various forms. One such example is the celebration of Diwali in Ireland since 2008. The event is organised every year in collaboration with Irish and Indian committees.
Further, an annual contemporary film festival is also a part of the celebration of Indian culture. The promotion of such events indicates the importance of cultural exchange between the two nations. The Irish communities also take a keen interest in conventional practices such as cultivating and consuming Indian herbs and spices. This connects the agricultural practices between the two nations. The cultural ties between the countries were strong, and Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Ireland helped strengthen them further.
Another significant practice is the celebration of International Yoga Day in Ireland. The Irish communities have accepted Yoga as a form of a healthy lifestyle. The practice is similar to the Indian tradition.
Tourism
India attracts around 44,000 Irish tourists every year. Indian tourists too visit Ireland in similar numbers. This was facilitated by the introduction of the common British-Irish visa scheme. This scheme allows the tourists to visit the U.K. and Ireland under one visa, rather than applying for two separate visas. It is valid for short stays. India also extended its Electronic Tourist Visa facility to Ireland to digitally facilitate visa approval and generation. The impact of the PM’s Ireland visit was such that it has also helped establish the tourism sector in both countries.
Conclusion
The diplomatic ties between Ireland and India have been impacted positively after Prime Minister Modi visited Ireland in 2015. It was an essential step toward strengthening the bilateral relationship between these two nations. India and Ireland have been important to each other since the 1900s.
In 2010 and 2017, two honorary consulates were established in Chennai and Kolkata. Later in 2019, a formal and fully functional consulate general in Mumbai. Ireland and India have also shown their allegiance to fighting terrorism after the Pulwama attack. India has also hosted several Irish dignitaries on various occasions. These visits were directed toward engagement in business, education, health and tourism.
Further, many agreements were signed to provide opportunities for employment to people of both countries. Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Ireland helped revive relatively stagnant relations between these two nations. Several cultural and historically similar instances bind these two nations. From Yeats and Tagore to cricket and Diwali, the cultural semblance between these two nations has helped create a strong tie between them.
