Financial Infrastructure: Spread of Banking and Market Perception of this Sector

Abstract

This paper examines the spread of banking as part of infrastructural growth of the Indian economy. Spread means geographical spread across states, between rural and urban areas, across class of borrowers and industries. It is important to evaluate whether the objective of financial inclusion in some sense is being met. How the Indian banking sector is perceived by the market and whether there has been a change in this perception is also examined. The Indian banking sector may be pursuing its own real objectives and may be achieving a lot. The question is: Does the stock market also feel so?