Published Paper Details:

The present study endeavours to present a comparative scenario of financial penetration across regions in the contemporary India. The study classifies India into six regions i.e. southern, western, central, eastern, northern-eastern and northern region. The secondary data extracted from economic political weekly research foundation, census report, MOSPI and RBIhas been used for the assessment of financial penetration for the period 2006 to 2016. The study reveals improvement in the each of the dimension i.e. Bank Penetration, ATM & Branch Availability, and Credit & Deposits; across the regions. Further study also reveals that gap between two streams i.e. upper and lower, is not merely significant but also exhibited better index position for the upper stream regions relatively to lower stream regions. However,states such as Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Sikkim from eastern region; Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh from Central region; provides scope for ameliorating financial penetration in lower stream regions. As these states are currently endeavour towards their developmental efforts and so these could provides room for improving the financial service engagements in the future.