Investment intensity in Odisha is slow and it should be increased. Odisha people should be encouraged to do ease of doing business,” said Reserve Bank of India Executive Director DK Mohanty at the first Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Odisha Finance Summit here on Saturday.
He said Odisha is a culturally rich State and has substantial growth in GDP. Odisha is an agro-based State. Most of the people depend on agriculture. There are small and marginal farmers also. For the financial inclusion, financial services must reach every one, he added.
“In today’s scenario, banks should have an appropriate business model, well cost management strategy and leadership quality to stay ahead in competition. Banks must have to focus on innovation and technology,” said State Bank of India Deputy Managing Director and CIO Mrutyunjaya Mohapatra.
Women and Child Development Department Commissioner-cum-Secretary Vishal Dev said,
“In the Mamata Yojana, we give Rs 5,000 to every pregnant mother to take care of nutrition needs. It is a direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme. But to receive the money, one of the major problems in some districts is they don’t have bank accounts.” He said 74 per cent of total panchayats in the State are still unbanked.
The State Government has already given target to different banks on financial inclusion, he added.
Bank of India Executive Director BP Sharma said financial literacy should be achieved for the financial inclusion.
ICC Director General Dr Rajeev Singh gave welcome address and JB Pany gave vote of thanks.
The speakers at the summit focused on bringing the unbanked population into the formal banking system. They also suggested opening more bank branches in the unbanked area. Policy makers, eminent industry leaders and participants from various
sectors ranging from banking, insurance, NBFCs, financial technology, infrastructure companies etc participated in the summit.
Topics ‘Role of banks and financial institutions towards inclusive growth’, ‘Mutual fund penetration: Where do we standIJ’ and ‘Insurance Market: Capitalising on new opportunities’ were discussed on the occasion.