Mumbai: The Business Today Banking & Economy Summit and BT Best Banks Awards, held at GIFT City in Gandhinagar on 22 March, celebrated India’s financial prowess. This year’s theme was “Indian Banking: Bigger. Bolder. Boundless,” and the event attracted a formidable assembly of industry titans, policymakers, and innovators, who discussed key trends and issues shaping the banking and financial sector.

At the event, the BT Best Banks Awards recognised and celebrated the leaders of the financial world, showcasing their resilience, innovation, and unwavering commitment to excellence. Nitin Gadkari, union minister for road transport and highways and Bhupendra Patel, chief minister of Gujarat, were present at the event and unveiled a Special Issue of Business Today on India’s Best Banks.

This year, the Bank of the Year saw joint winners, with ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank clinching the title. Veteran banker Uday Kotak, founder & non-executive director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, was bestowed with the Lifetime Achievement Award. The list of winners in other categories included names such as HDFC Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Karur Vysya Bank, J P Morgan, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra Finance and Razorpay, among others.

At the summit, Union minister Gadkari highlighted the unprecedented opportunity presented by infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) bonds. He emphasised their potential to empower ordinary citizens to partake in the nation's rapid infrastructure development while reaping substantial returns on their investments. “I don’t say this openly, but I have decided that I [will] now make roads with money collected from poor countrymen,” he said, adding that he often encouraged peons, police constables or labourers to invest in InvIT bonds. “I assure you of 8.05 per cent annual interest.”

Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel credited the banking turnaround to PM Modi's policies, while Dr Arvind Panagariya, Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission of India, batted for the privatisation of public sector banks once the General Elections are over. Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD & CEO of NSE, said that the regulatory framework of GIFT City, especially those related to the speed of execution, must be benchmarked to similar special zones in Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore or London, while Kalyanaraman Rajaraman, Chairperson of the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), said a green finance ecosystem has been put in place at Gift City. Bestselling author Chetan Bhagat said that GIFT City, with proper reforms, can become a financial nerve centre just like Hong Kong, Dubai, or Singapore.

To decide on the winners of the awards, the 28th edition of the BT-KPMG Best Banks and NBFCs Survey identified those institutions that weathered all storms in 2022-23, innovated both in products and services, nurtured talent and leveraged the strengths of fintech or technology partners to prepare for the future. The survey employed a comprehensive blend of quantitative and qualitative metrics to assess the performance of banks, fintech companies, and large NBFCs, that were included from this edition.

While six of the awards are quantitative ones based on a rigorous evaluation of 35-plus business parameters of banks and NBFCs for FY23, the other 10 categories were decided by a high-profile jury headed by Anand Kumar Sinha, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India. The other members of the jury were Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD & CEO, NSE; Ranu Vohra, Co-founder & Executive Vice Chairman, Avendus; Pallav Mohapatra, MD & CEO, Arcil; N.S. Kannan, former ED, ICICI Bank; and Rajiv Kaul, Executive Vice Chairman & CEO, CMS Info Systems. A total of 17 winners were picked.

Here’s the complete list of winners in the BT-KPMG Best Banks & NBFCs Survey 2022-23:

Jury Awards

Bank of the Year: HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank (Joint Winners)
Lifetime Achievement Award: Uday Kotak, Founder & Non-executive Director, Kotak Mahindra Bank
Best Bank in Innovation: Ujjivan Small Finance Bank
Best Bank in Talent and Workforce: Kotak Mahindra Bank
Best Bank in Fintech Initiative: Federal Bank
Best NBFC in Innovation: Tata Capital
Best NBFC in Talent and Workforce: Mahindra Finance
Best Fintech in Payments: Razorpay
Best Fintech in Value-Added Services: Perfios Software Solutions
Best Fintech in Lending: Lendingkart
BT-KPMG Quantitative Awards
Best Large Indian Bank: HDFC Bank
Best Mid-sized Indian Bank: Bank of Maharashtra
Best Small Indian Bank: Karur Vysya Bank
Best Large Foreign Bank: J P Morgan
Best Small Finance Bank: Ujjivan Small Finance Bank
Best Large NBFC: Bajaj Finance Ltd