: Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Rohit Jain, convened a meeting with the Zonal Heads of major banks operating in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir here today.

The Deputy Governor, in his opening remarks, highlighted the important role played by the banks in supporting the economic activity and strengthening the financial inclusion in J&K.

Rohit Jain emphasised the need for banks to maintain adequate banking infrastructure, improve credit delivery and ensure greater outreach of banking services to priority sectors, particularly to underserved sections. He also underscored the importance of coordinated efforts by the banks towards meeting the evolving credit requirements of the UT. He underlined that banks should remain responsive to customer needs in view of importance of customer services and grievance redress. He stressed on the need for greater digitalisation of banking services while highlighting the growing concern around digital frauds.

The Deputy Governor also emphasised the need for banks to increase loan processing through Unified Lending Interface (ULI). He highlighted its potential to transform the credit delivery in a manner similar to the transformation brought about by UPI in digital payments.

Regional Director, RBI, Jammu presented a broad overview of the financial landscape of the UT of J&K, elucidating its economic potential across agriculture, MSMEs, tourism, handicrafts and services. Subsequently, the financial landscape of the UT of J&K, was presented by the Zonal Heads of major banks present in the region. It included banking network, Credit-Deposit ratio, credit flow and Priority Sector Lending besides the progress on onboarding of banks on the Unified Lending Interface (ULI), re-KYC coverage and settlement of unclaimed deposits including special initiatives undertaken by their respective banks for the UT of J&K.