Digital banking ushering growth, says PM Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday attributed India's sustained economic growth to the efforts of the BJP government to replace pre-2014 'phone banking' with 'digital banking'. Referring to the previous UPA regime, he said under 'phone banking', instructions were given on phone to banks regarding whom they had to lend to and at what terms and conditions.

"The economy of any country is as progressive as its banking system is strong," the Prime Minister said after dedicating 75 Digital Banking Units (DBUs) to the nation via video-conference. Observing that the country has shifted from the pre-2014 'phone banking' system to digital banking in the last eight years, he said "as a result, India's economy is moving forward with a continuum."

Modi said before 2014, the banks used to get phone calls to decide their functioning, and added "phone banking politics had made the banks unsafe and made the country's economy insecure by sowing the seeds of thousands of crores of scams."

The BJP-led government came to power in May 2014. The Prime Minister further said the present government has transformed the banking system with a focus on transparency. "After bringing transparency in the identification of NPAs, lakhs of crores of rupees were brought back into the banking system.