UDAIPUR, India, Feb. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — IIM Udaipur proudly hosted the inaugural Roundtable of the JM Financial Centre for Financial Research, themed ‘India @2047: The Role of BFSI.’ The event brought together distinguished industry leaders and experts to discuss the BFSI sector’s transformative role in shaping India’s economic future through trends, innovations, and strategic initiatives for inclusive and sustainable growth. The insightful discussion was moderated by Prof. Ashok Banerjee, Director, IIM Udaipur.
Key Takeaways from the Roundtable:
Mudit Jain, Head of Research – Corporate & Cleantech Finance, TATA Capital Ltd., addressed the economic, social, and environmental challenges of India’s growth trajectory. He underscored the role of clean technology, emphasising its high capital requirements yet low operational costs. Jain also highlighted climate action imperatives, focusing on mitigation (avoiding the unmanageable) and adaptation (managing the unavoidable). He stressed the need for contract enforcement, robust execution, and effective carbon pricing to support India’s sustainability goals.
Amit Goenka, Chairman & Managing Director, Nisus Finance (NiFCO), emphasised India’s rise to become the third-largest economy with 80% mobile penetration, increasing banking access, and a transition towards financial savings. He noted that real estate is poised for significant growth, with projections of 50% urbanisation in the next 4-5 years. Calling this the ‘decade of real estate,’ he highlighted booming infrastructure, expanding airports, and commercial spaces as key growth drivers. He also emphasised Indore’s rapid development and JM Financial’s role in broadening public market accessibility.
Casparus Kromhout, MD & CEO of Shriram Life Insurance, discussed the evolution of India’s insurance sector from nationalisation to privatisation, unlocking its potential as a major economic enabler. He highlighted the significant growth of life and general insurers (from 5 life insurers in 2001 to 26 today and general insurers from 9 to 32). Stressing the role of insurance in nation-building, he projected the need to increase insurable lives to 1.1 billion and scale the industry’s sum assured by 100x to support India’s working population by 2047.
Sonia Dasgupta, MD & CEO – Investment Banking, JM Financial Ltd., highlighted the dynamic expansion of India’s capital markets, citing impressive IPO growth and funds raised. She emphasised that India’s strong intellectual talent has made it a hub for Global Capability Centers (GCCs). Advocating for greater financial literacy and regulatory reforms, she stressed the importance of simplifying capital-raising processes to build a more efficient and inclusive financial ecosystem.
Rajesh Rai, Business Head – Retail & Business Banking, ICICI Bank, underscored the critical role of banking in driving economic progress by strengthening industries and supporting customer aspirations. He compared global banking trends, noting China and the USA’s dominance and predicting that Indian banks will soon rank among the world’s top 20. He highlighted the banking sector’s role in empowering SMEs and addressed the need to adapt traditional banking models to serve India’s fast-growing startup ecosystem better.
The Roundtable facilitated an engaging discussion on the BFSI sector’s future trajectory, reinforcing the need for sustainable finance, financial inclusion, and regulatory enhancements as India progresses toward Viksit Bharat 2047. IIM Udaipur and JM Financial Centre for Financial Research remain committed to fostering industry-academia collaborations to drive impactful research and innovation in financial services.
