Gujarat financial inclusion index slips, most districts perform worse than national average

By Rajiv Shah

Despite wide talk of Gujarat being No 1 in things financial, top rating agency Crisil has found that the state is failing to improve upon its financial inclusion index compared to most of India. The top consulting firm's new report has revealed that the financial inclusion index, called Inclusix – a concept it worked out in alliance with the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, to find out how deep is financial penetration among larger sections of population – has revealed, Gujarat has failed to improve its performance over the last four years in providing the three critical parameters of banking services, viz. branch penetration, deposit penetration, and credit penetration.

Titled “Crisil Inclusix: An Index to Measure India’s Progress on Financial Inclusion”, this is the second report in a year brought out by India’s authoritative consulting firm, which is supported by the well-known US rating agency, Standard & Poor.
Dated January 2014, the report – which bases the financial inclusion rankings of all the 35 Indian states and 638 districts on the basis of the data provided by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) – has found that Gujarat has not only slipped its ranking from the 17th position in 2009 to 18th in 2011 and further to 19th in 2012. The state’s Inclusix score in 2012 was found to be 40.6 on a scale of 100 — which is 2.2 points below the national average of 42.8. India’s financial index registered an improvement by 2.7 in 2012, compared to 2011, when it was 40.1. As against this, Gujarat’s financial inclusion index improved by just 2.0.

Financial inclusion index on a scale of 100: Indian states

Worse, the data suggest, of the 26 Gujarat districts analysed by the top consulting firm, only 10 districts were able to perform better than the national average (42.8). These districts are Porbandar (56.8), Vadodara, (54.1), Jamnagar (51.6), Navsari (50.4), Ahmedabad (50.3), Kutch (45.8), Anand (46.8), Rajkot (46.4), Bharuch (45.4), and Amreli (44.1). Even the state capital, Gandhinagar, being projected by the powers that be as the “role model” township for other states to follow in financial development, could score below the national average with 42.7.

While none of Gujarat districts could make it to the top 50, backward districts of the state continued to show poor performance in financial inclusion, too, in almost the same way as other social sectors. Thus, the predominantly tribal district of Dahod scored 22.7 on a scale of 100, the worst in Gujarat, ranking No 571 among 638 Indian districts. The situation was found to be not very different for the border district of Banaskantha, scoring 23.4, and ranking No 560; Panchmahals, scoring 25.3, and ranking 532; Tapi, scoring 26.4, and ranking No 515, and so on. Each of these districts has a sizable number of tribal population.
What should be particularly disconcerting for the policy makers, who are seeking to project Gujarat as the future “financial capital” of India by introducing the Gujarat International Finance Tec-city (GIFT) next to Gandhinagar, is that several major districts, known for industrial development, performed poor compared to large parts of India. Surat, Gujarat’s second biggest city which has become an industrial and commercial hub, for instance, scored 35.0, ranking No 340, and Bhavnagar scored 32.1, ranking No 409.
Major states which performed better than Gujarat are – Kerala, with a score of 80.7, double that of Gujarat, Delhi (78.2), Andhra Pradesh (64.8), Tamil Nadu (64.8), Karnataka (61.4), Himachal Pradesh (58.4), Punjab (56.8), Uttarakhand (52.4), Haryana (49.3), Orissa (43.3) and Maharashtra (40.7). Interestingly, the study shows that out of 35 Indian states (both major and minor), as many as 22 of them showed a better improvement in their score in 2012 over 2011, as compared to that of Gujarat.
Among the major Indian states, the best improvement was registered by Delhi (14.0). This was followed by Kerala 4.3, Tamil Nadu 4.2, Karnataka 4.2, Andhra Pradesh 3.5, Karnataka 3.7, Andhra Pradesh 3.5, Maharashtra 3.2, Madhya Pradesh 3.2, Jammu & Kashmir 3.1, Odisha 2.8, West Bengal 2.5, Assam 2.2 and Rajasthan 2.1. Gujarat’s improvement was 2.0 on a scale of 100, which suggests that in financial inclusion the state machinery failed to mobilise banks to remotest corners, despite loud talk about mobilising finances for micro credit.

Financial inclusion index on a scale of 100: Gujarat districts

Crisil says, India’s score of 42.8 on a scale of 100 reflects “under-penetration of formal banking in the country.” It underlines, “Just one in two Indians have a bank savings account, and one in seven access to bank credit.” It points towards “wide regional disparities”, with south Indian states remaining “leader in financial inclusion” in “all three dimensions of financial inclusion”. These states, in fact, “strengthened” their “leadership in 2012.” What it said of India was found to be equally true for Gujarat.

Comments

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Modi’s Israel visit strengthened Pakistan’s hand in US–Iran truce: Ex-Indian diplomat

By Jag Jivan M. K. Bhadrakumar , a career diplomat with three decades of service in postings across the former Soviet Union, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, and Turkey, has warned that the current truce in the US–Iran war is “fragile and ridden with contradictions.” Writing in his blog India Punchline , Bhadrakumar argues that while Pakistan has emerged as a surprising broker of dialogue, the durability of the ceasefire remains uncertain.

Lata Mangeshkar, a Dalit from Devdasi family, 'refused to sing a song' about Ambedkar

By Pramod Ranjan* An artist is known and respected for her art. But she is equally, or even more so known and respected for her social concerns. An artist's social concerns or in other words, her worldview, give a direction and purpose to her art. History remembers only such artists whose social concerns are deep, reasoned and of durable importance. Lata Mangeshkar (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was a celebrated playback singer of the Hindi film industry. She was the uncrowned queen of Indian music for over seven decades. Her popularity was unmatched. Her songs were heard and admired not only in India but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries. In this article, we will focus on her social concerns. Lata lived for 92 long years. Music ran in her blood. Her father also belonged to the world of music. Her two sisters, Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar, are well-known singers. Lata might have been born in Indore but the blood of a famous Devdasi family...

'Batteries now cheap enough for solar to meet India's 90% demand': Expert quotes Ember study

By A Representative Shankar Sharma, Power & Climate Policy Analyst, has urged India’s top policymakers to reconsider the financial and ecological implications of the country’s energy transition strategy in light of recent global developments. In a letter dated April 10, 2026, addressed to the Union Ministers of Finance, Power, New & Renewable Energy, Environment, Forest & Climate Change, and the Vice Chair of NITI Aayog, with a copy to the Prime Minister, Sharma highlighted concerns over India’s ambitious plans for coal gasification and the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR).

Labour unrest in Manesar trigger tensions: Recently enacted labour codes blamed

By A Representative A civil rights coalition has expressed concern over recent developments in the industrial hub of Manesar in Haryana, where a series of labour actions and police responses have drawn attention. A statement, released by the Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), said it stood in solidarity with workers in IMT Manesar and other parts of the country, while also alleging instances of police excess during ongoing unrest.

Search This Blog