“The branch opening has to be as per the locations provided by the ministry.” While large state-run banks like SBI have to open nearly 1,500 branches, their private peers have been asked to open 600-700 branches each. The list includes villages and panchayat regions where there are no bank branches so it can push cheap credit to the unbanked.As of March 2019, India had more than 120,000 branches and a little over 2 lakh ATMs, data showed. Of these, only 35,649 branches are in the rural areas.RBI data on financial inclusion suggests that including regional banks’ outlets in rural locations reached over 52,000 at the end of March 2019, a growth of mere 3% over 2018. For banks, a branch in a metro city becomes profitable in two years, while a rural branch breaks even in four years.But, with the RBI allowing easier branch-opening and functioning rules, branchless outlets in rural areas have clocked nearly 5.5 lakh. The share of business correspondents in total banking outlets in rural areas remains around 91%.

Source: Economic Times January 16, 2020 01:28 UTC