Banking Awareness of 18, 19, 20 and 21 January 2026

Topic: Reports and Indices

1. India will come in ‘Upper Middle Income’ category of countries in the next 4 years, as per a research report by State Bank of India (SBI).

• India currently comes under ‘Lower Middle Income’ category of countries. 
• India’s per capita income is estimated to reach around $4,000 by about 2030.
• Reaching this level would place India among upper-middle-income economies such as China and Indonesia.
• India took nearly 60 years to move from a low-income country to a lower-middle-income country in 2007.
• In this period, per capita Gross National Income (GNI) grew from $90 in 1962 to $910 in 2007.
• This was a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.3 percent.
• India took 60 years after independence to reach a $1 trillion economy.
• Indian economy grew to $2 trillion within the next seven years in 2014.
• Indian economy reached the $3 trillion mark after another seven years in 2021. India crossed $4 trillion by 2025.
• The economy is likely to reach $5 trillion in the next two years.
• India achieved a per capita income of $1,000 for the first time in 2009.
• Per capita income reached $2,000 per capita in 2019. Per capita income will reach $3,000 by 2026.
• To become a high-income country by 2047, India must meet the current per capita GNI threshold of about $13,936.
• For this to be achieved, per capita GNI must grow at around 7.5 percent annually.
• India’s per capita GNI grew at an average rate of about 8.3 percent between 2001 and 2024.
• The report concludes that India is well positioned to enter the upper-middle-income category.

Topic: Banking/Financial/Govt Schemes

2. Electronics manufacturing, especially of mobile phones, has become the top-performing sector under the PLI scheme.

• Electronics output rose by 146 percent from ₹2.13 lakh crore in FY21 to ₹5.45 lakh crore in FY25.
• Foreign direct investment inflows of $4 billion aided this rise in production.
• 70 percent of this FDI came to beneficiaries of the PLI scheme.
• PLI scheme covers 14 different manufacturing sectors.
• The total budgetary allocation for the scheme is ₹1.97 lakh crore.
• The aggregate PLI disbursements up to September 2025 at ₹23,946 crore have been much lower than total envisaged PLI disbursement.
• This aggregate PLI disbursement up to September 2025 accounts for only about 12 percent of the total envisaged PLI disbursement.
• In FY23, incentives paid out were about ₹2,968 crore. They more than doubled to around ₹6,753 crore in FY24.
• FY25 has recorded the highest annual disbursement so far.
• Total investments under the PLI scheme as of September 2025 have reached nearly ₹2 lakh crore.
• Large-scale electronics manufacturing has received the biggest allocation at ₹38,645 crore.
• The automobile and auto components sector is the second-largest beneficiary, receiving an allocation of about ₹25,938 crore.
• Solar photovoltaic module manufacturing and advanced chemistry cell (ACC) battery manufacturing has been allocated ₹24,000 crore and ₹18,100 crore, respectively.
• Electronics production in India has expanded nearly sixfold over the last 11 years.
• Electronic goods production stood at around ₹1.9 lakh crore in FY15 and increased to nearly ₹11.3 lakh crore by FY25.
• Electronics exports rose from about ₹0.38 lakh crore to ₹3.3 lakh crore over this period.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

3. Suryoday Small Finance Bank and HyperVerge have entered into a strategic partnership.

• The partnership focuses on deploying an AI-powered Video KYC solution of HyperVerge.
• This will strengthen bank’s digital onboarding, regulatory compliance and operational efficiency.
• HyperVerge’s Video KYC solution uses artificial intelligence to help banks improve customer conversion rates.
• It also enhances employee productivity because each verification agent can complete almost twice as many approved KYC calls per day.
• The system allows the bank to scale onboarding volumes easily without adding extra operational overhead.
• The system ensures a high level of data security. Customer personal data is stored securely within the system.
• Only Suryoday Small Finance Bank can access this data.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

4. India’s growth forecast for the current fiscal year has been increased by IMF to 7.3 per cent.

• India’s growth forecast has been revised by 0.7 percentage point.
• As per IMF's World Economic Outlook update, the upward revision shows strong momentum in the fourth quarter of this fiscal year.
• For the 2026–27 financial year, IMF's projection for growth is 6.4%.
• IMF added that India still remains a key driver of growth among emerging market and developing economies.
• IMF projected global growth to be steady at 3.3% in 2026.
• This is supported by easing trade tensions and accommodative financial conditions.
• Increased investment in technology, particularly artificial intelligence, is also supporting global growth.
• India’s inflation is expected to return close to target levels after falling sharply in 2025.
• The main factor behind the decline in inflation is lower food prices.
• The IMF cautioned that AI-driven productivity improvements could reduce future investment and could have spillover effects on emerging economies.

Topic: Banking System

5. Public sector banks have sanctioned over 3.96 lakh MSME loan applications.

• The total value of these loans is more than ₹52,300 crore.
• The sanctions were made under a new Credit Assessment Model (CAM) based on digital credit underwriting between April 1 and December 31, 2025.
• The digital credit assessment model was launched by PSBs in 2025.
• It uses borrowers’ digital footprints to allow faster and more objective assessment of MSME loan proposals.
• The model is integrated with credit guarantee schemes.
• It includes linkage with the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises.
• Loan applications are routed through the Jan Samarth Portal. Applications are accepted within limits set by individual banks.
• The initiative allows MSME promoters to apply for loans 24×7. Loan decisions are communicated online.
• The overall borrowing experience for MSMEs has improved significantly.

Topic: Appointments

6. Sandeep Bakhshi’s reappointment as MD & CEO till 2028 has been approved by the ICICI Bank board.

• The reappointment has been approved for a further two-year term, beginning October 4, 2026 and ending October 3, 2028.
• The reappointment is subject to approvals from the RBI and shareholders. Bakhshi has led the bank since 2018.
• He took over as MD & CEO in October 2018.
• As per ICICI Bank board, the reappointment is in line with the RBI’s Commercial Banks: Governance Directions, 2025.
• ICICI Bank is the country’s second-largest private sector lender. It is headquartered in Mumbai with a registered office in Vadodara.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

7. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology's Digital India BHASHINI Division and Government of Madhya Pradesh signed MoU.

• The MoU was signed during the Madhya Pradesh Regional AI Impact Conference 2026.
• The MoU formalizes collaboration on multilingual digital governance and makes possible the integration of BHASHINI’s language technologies into state digital platforms.
• The integration includes translation APIs and AI-powered language tools, which will help deliver public services in multiple Indian languages.
• BHASHINI will support voice-first AI solutions in Madhya Pradesh and will also enable multilingual services across the digital governance ecosystem of Madhya Pradesh.
• Madhya Pradesh Regional AI Impact Conference 2026 was held at Bhopal.
• The conference was organized by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of Madhya Pradesh, in partnership with the IndiaAI Mission.
• It was inaugurated by Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav, who announced that the state will soon launch a State AI Policy in mission mode.

Topic: Banking/Financial/Govt Schemes

8. A national campaign to boost women-led enterprises has been launched by Rural Development Ministry.

• A National Campaign on Entrepreneurship has been launched by the Ministry of Rural Development.
• This campaign aims to train 50,000 Community Resource Persons (CRPs) in enterprise promotion.
• It also aims to provide Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) training to 50 lakh women Self Help Group members under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission.
• The programme is designed to accelerate non-farm rural enterprise development.
• It is also designed to strengthen grassroots' entrepreneurship capacity.
• The initiative builds on earlier successful non-farm livelihood models and programmes like the Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme.
• Such models have helped SHG women manage small enterprises effectively.
• The government has fixed a target of creating three crore Lakhpati Didis, women SHG members earning at least ₹1 lakh annually.