As a banker since 1955, who has seen the nationalisation of banks, liberalisation of policies and now digitalisation of the economy, Narayanan Vaghul reckons that India’s banking sector has moved ahead of the rest of the world.
“Today, the banking in India is by far the best in the world I can say,” Vaghul told businessline on the sidelines of the launch of his book, Reflections.
“Overall, I find that the banking which we did was very simple and nothing very romantic about it. But today, the language is different, the process is different, and there’s very high use of technology.” Adding that in the last 20 years, banking in India has been catching up with the Western world, and “it is now its going ahead,” said Vaghul. “The current digital banking has no boundaries. All these things make banking reach a common man. I’m just amazed that I’m living through this.”
The veteran Indian banker’s book is a collection of anecdotes that offers more than a glimpse into his vision, leadership, and generosity. Initiatives that he was privileged to have been part of, events that he had pre-empted years before they occurred, and processes that he established as a matter of course — these went on to become everything that is strong and sustainable in the Indian financial ecosystem today. The book launch event was graced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who called him a big inspiration and motivation for her family. The grand auditorium was filled with the doyens of the ICICI Group, both past and present, such as Sandeep Bakshi, NS Kannan, Sandeep Batra, V Vaidyanathan, Kalpana Morparia and Shikha Sharma, and all of them of thrilled to be there just to listen to their guru speak.
What Vaghul is equally pleased and amazed with is the asset quality of the Indian banking system. “See what has happened at ICICI Bank. It [net NPA ratio] is at 0.48 per cent. I can’t believe that. We could never have dreamt of those numbers. That it came about is great,” he said, while explaining the reasons for his optimism about the health of the banking sector. At this juncture, he believes there is nothing as a pain to the asset quality in the system as such. “There is systemic stability and there is nothing to worry about’’.