Don't look at Sensex, look at India as a long term story, says SBI Chairman C S Setty

"I thought I've seen everything, but every year brings new dimensions of challenges. But India stands out as a source of stability, resilience and opportunity. Don't look at sensex. Look at India as a long-term story," said State Bank of India Chairman Challa Sreenivasulu Setty at the Citi India Conference 2026.

Delivering the Keynote Address, Setty highlighted that the country stands out as a source of stability, resilience, and opportunity at a time when the global economy navigates geopolitical uncertainties, shifting supply chains, technological disruptions, and changing capital flows.

The SBI Chairman outlined the next phase of development under Vision India 2047, which aims to transform the country into Viksit Bharat with a per capita income of at least USD 10,000. He identified key priorities for this transition, including rural prosperity for the 60 per cent population residing in rural areas, urban transformation as the urban population approaches 800 million by 2050, and investing in a working-age population expected to exceed 1.1 billion by 2050.

Setty also emphasized the target to increase the manufacturing share of GDP from 17 per cent to at least 25 per cent. He stated that the scale of financing required over the coming decades will be unprecedented.

"Based on internal assessments, India may require incremental investments of nearly Rs 200 trillion rupees by 2030, another Rs 400 to Rs 450 trillion by FY35 across infrastructure, manufacturing, energy transition, urban development, MSMEs and innovations," Setty said.

"For banks to support India's aspiration, they themselves must evolve. The future banking model must be built on some key pillars, ensuring access to banking services across every segment of society and the economy," he added.

According to the Chairman, India's energy transition will require a cumulative investment of approximately USD 22 trillion by 2070 to achieve its net-zero target. Setty noted that renewable energy now meets over 50 per cent of India's electricity demand, achieving a milestone five years ahead of the 2030 Paris Agreement target.

Reflecting on the domestic banking system, Setty stated that the infrastructure lending by scheduled commercial banks increased from Rs 9.6 trillion in 2016 to nearly Rs 14 trillion in 2026, while agricultural credit disbursement crossed Rs 26 trillion in FY26. He also noted that consolidated MSME credit outstanding stands around Rs 67 trillion.

Highlighting digital public infrastructure, Setty stated that the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) handles 200 billion transactions annually, with SBI managing 30 per cent of that volume by processing 250 million transactions daily.

"The journey to vision India 2047 will undoubtedly be challenging, but it is also one of the most compelling growth stories of our time. India has already demonstrated how inclusion can be achieved at scale," Setty said.

"The next chapter is to demonstrate how inclusion can be transformed into prosperity at scale. The banking sector will be at the heart of the transformation, not merely as providers of credit, but as mobilizers of savings, enablers of entrepreneurship, allocators of capital, and partners in nation building," he stated. (ANI)