NEW DELHI: Govt Friday set up a high-level committee under former central vigilance commissioner Suresh N. Patel to undertake comprehensive banking reforms, delivering on an announcement made by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Union budget 2026-27.The five-member panel, which includes RBI deputy governor Shirish Chandra Murmu, former RBI deputy governor N S Vishwanathan, former Indian Bank MD & CEO Padmaja Chunduru alongwith a finance ministry representative, has a tenure of six months to submit a roadmap aimed at reforms necessary to make Indian banking “globally competitive, financially inclusive, and resilient for Viksit Bharat, 2047,” said govt.The panel’s mandate spans “structural, institutional, regulatory, and legislative” overhauls across commercial banks, regional rural banks (RRBs), cooperative institutions, and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). Besides assessing long-term capital needs for banks and development financial institutions (DFIs) to spur private investment, the committee will evaluate priority sector lending norms, cybersecurity frameworks, AI adoption, and talent acquisition strategies.This step marks the latest major structural review of the banking sector after Narasimham committee (1998) laid the foundation for tightening capital adequacy ratios and non-performing asset (NPA) norms, in the wake of 1991 liberalisation reforms.Later, Raghuram Rajan committee (2008) advocated incremental structural shifts to expand credit access and financial markets, while Urjit Patel Committee (2014) advocated for inflation targeting by setting up the monetary policy committee.
