Banking Sector Reforms and Financial Inclusion in India May 31, 2017 Mishra Akhilesh1, Sharma Vaishnavi2 1Associate Professor, Department of Economics, SD (PG) College, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, mishraakh@gmail.com 2Research Scholar, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Mumbai, India, vaishnavisharma.igidr@gmail.com Online published on 17 July, 2017. Abstract This paper attempts to analyze the trends in Index of Financial Inclusion (IFI) of major Indian states over the three distinct regimes, namely regime of social banking (1972–91), regime of intense reforms (1992–01) and the mixed regime (2002–15). The study finds that the instruments used in social banking regime succeeded in improving the growth of banking and inclusion across the states, especially in the backward and thinly banked states while the instruments used during intense reforms and mixed regime led to diversification and growth of the banking sector in the country but failed in reducing exclusions and interstate disparity in availability penetration and also in the usage of banking services. Top Keywords Central Banking, Banks, Finance in Urban and Rural Economies, Financial Inclusion, Depository Institutions. Top |