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India’s Financial Inclusion Index stands at 67.0 as compared to 64.2 in March 2024, showing the strengthening of financial inclusion and financial literacy initiatives.
The Reserve Bank of India
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) for the year ending March 2025, which stands at 67.0 as compared to 64.2 in March 2024. The FI-Index has grown 24.3% since 2021, indicating an increase in the accessibility of financial services, products and financial literacy.
According to an official release, the growth was witnessed across all three sub-indices of Access, Usage and Quality. The increase in FI-Index reflected the strengthening of financial inclusion and financial literacy initiatives.
Financial Inclusion (FI) is defined as the availability of affordable financial products and services to meet the needs of individuals and businesses in a responsible and sustainable way. This availability supports entrepreneurship and business growth, which bolsters strengthening of economic activities, boost in productivity and economic growth.
Focus On India’s Development Schemes
India’s success in this domain results from the revolutionary and financially inclusive schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), which has over 55.98 crore beneficiaries as of August 4, 2025, and the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), which has achieved a cumulative enrolment of 50.54 crore individuals as of March 19, 2025.
Furthermore, the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY), which facilitates loans up to Rs 20 lakh to income generating small and micro enterprises, has sanctioned a total of 53.85 crore loans as of August 4, 2025.
Moreover, India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has revolutionised the nation’s payment ecosystem by integrating multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application, with over Rs 24.03 lakh crore payments in June 2025 alone. UPI now accounts for 85% of all digital transactions in India as has become a powerful tool for financial inclusion.
The Narendra Modi government also launched the Mahila Sammriddhi Yojana (MSY) to benefit women from socially and economically weak backgrounds. Till March, 2025 the scheme has disbursed Rs 72,859 lakhs to women beneficiaries in all over India, as per the release.
The Department of Financial services, Ministry of Finance recently launched a 3 months campaign for Saturation of Financial Inclusion schemes at Gram Panchayat and Urban Local Bodies to open bank accounts for all citizens. Around 6.65 lakhs accounts were opened under PMJDY in the month of July.
Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master’s in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international…Read More
Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master’s in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international… Read More
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