Crisil recently launched the Inclusix – An index to measure India’s progress on financial inclusion. At the launch of this index in June 2013 it also released a report on the state of financial inclusion in India. The PDF report contains information about the state of financial inclusion in more than 600 districts in India and can be downloaded at the link below :
FINANCIAL INCLUSION INDIA REPORT 2013
Download at the link below:
CRISIL-Inclusix-financial-inclusion-India-report.pdf
The foreword of the Report
The first step to addressing a problem is quantifying it; especially if the magnitude of the challenge is as vast as taking financial inclusion to every corner of the country. Financial inclusion is a vital component of the Government of India’s agenda and also a priority for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Despite a considerable focus on the inclusion agenda, efforts are often hindered by a lack of relevant measurement tools and the availability of high-quality data. Given CRISIL’s expertise in the science of building robust and objective evaluation frameworks, we saw a role for ourselves to help fill this gap.
CRISIL Inclusix is a pro bono initiative, driven by CRISIL’s stated goal of making markets function better. Two years ago, CRISIL initiated work on developing CRISIL Inclusix, a one-of-its-kind benchmark index to accurately measure the extent of financial inclusion in India, right down to the district level. The analytical framework we have developed has solid structural components. Once the methodology was finalized, following an active consultation process with financial institutions, regulators, and policymakers, the team at CRISIL spent 1,500 man-hours in painstakingly collating 200,000 data points from 165 banks across 632 districts to compute the index.
Currently, CRISIL Inclusix measures financial inclusion by evaluating the penetration of banking services. CRISIL Inclusix also has the flexibility to add on, in a modular fashion, other financial intermediaries such as insurance and pension services, Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs), and Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs) as and when credible data from these sectors become available at the district level. Since the index will be updated periodically, it will be possible to monitor and measure improvements over time.
The first report presents financial inclusion metrics in 632 districts of the country over a three-year timeframe (2009-2011). The index will help policymakers map the progress of financial inclusion and take remedial measures wherever they spot areas of concern. It will also help banks set financial inclusion targets for themselves and measure outcomes.
I would like to specially acknowledge the strong support we have received from the RBI and Ministry of Finance in this endeavor. The data for CRISIL Inclusix is sourced from the RBI. I am also grateful to the dedicated and driven team of CRISIL analysts that has made CRISIL Inclusix a reality.
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