Financial inclusion and the future of the Indian economy

Financial inclusion is an equalizer that enables all citizens to contribute to economic growth and to gain from it. India was ahead of its times when it first ushered in financial inclusion by nationalizing its banks in mid-1969 and then coming up with a slew of policies to operationalize it. The track record is a mix of successes and failures. This paper tries to capture some of these and visualize where India will gain and what it may lose over the next three or four decades. Considering India's growing economic importance and the projections that the Indian economy will be as big as the United States economy around 2050, the paper tries to understand how the economic upswing will mesh with India's socio-political and environmental processes that also influence financial inclusion; and what the different scenarios might be in 2050. This paper discusses what role financial inclusion will play in India's economy in the year 2050. It suggests some possible scenarios and policy measures to move towards a desirable scenario. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.