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Informist, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026

 

--SBI Setty: Need level playing field for all financial savings instruments 

--SBI Setty: Globally no savings instruments get special treatment 

--SBI Setty: Globally neither bank deposits nor equity gets special treatment

 

MUMBAI – State Bank of India Chairman C.S. Setty on Saturday said there should be a level playing field across all financial savings instruments, noting that bank deposits and equity investments should not receive preferential regulatory or tax treatment as the country's savings ecosystem evolves. Setty made this comments when asked about his expectations from the Union Budget, which is to be tabled in Parliament on Sunday. 

 

"Globally also, we have not seen anywhere where the bank deposits are given any special treatment. But at the same time, equity instruments are also not given a special treatment in many jurisdictions...Now I think there should be a level playing field for the financial savings instruments," Setty said on the sidelines of an event here. His comments come amid growing financialisation of household savings and increasing competition for deposits, which are a key funding source for banks.

 

Setty said banks continue to rely on stable savings and retail term deposits to support long-term project financing, but added that deposit-led funding alone would be insufficient to finance sunrise and infrastructure sectors that require long-tenure capital.

 

"Patient capital cannot come only from deposit-driven asset build-up. That is just not possible," he said, adding that financial institutions, private equity investors, and corporates would need to play a larger role in funding such sectors.

 

He said India's sunrise sectors would require investments of around INR 100 trillion over the next five years, with debt capital opportunities estimated at around INR 20 trillion–INR 22 trillion, though such projects would require a mix of debt, equity and government-backed funding structures.

 

Setty said SBI's new platform would help create financing structures, facilitate collaboration among domestic and global lenders, and support participation from multilateral institutions and long-term capital providers.  End

 

Reported by Kabir Sharma

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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