Opinion: HDFC Merger Will Leave India's Banks Gasping
NDTV
When the remaking of India's socialist financial landscape began in 1993, very few people believed in the project - some of the 40 applications to set up new private-sector banks were so frivolous that they were written on postcards.
Three decades later, things are far more serious. Finance in the most-populous nation is moving into a higher gear. Of the two big changes expected this year, one has just occurred and created a juggernaut bigger than Morgan Stanley. The other splash may see the birth of India's own Ant Group Co., a digital-lending powerhouse being set up by the country's wealthiest tycoon.
These disruptions are taking place on the strength of a much larger consuming class that finance has helped create along the way. But is it big enough to sustain the industry's latest makeover? The test will come in the deposits market.