Business Today – 15 March 2026

Summary

ICICI Bank won the top spot in the 30th BT-KPMG survey of India's best banks for the fifth consecutive year, and former RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das received the Lifetime Achievement Award — Business Today's March 15, 2026 issue (Vol 35 No 6) dedicates its annual ranking to the transformation of Indian banking over three decades. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warns that labour markets face an AI tsunami, while HSBC India's Hitendra Dave explains why retail liquidity is shrinking.

The BT-KPMG survey covers 12 categories including Best Bank, Best Foreign Bank, Best Small Finance Bank, Best in Innovation, and Best Social Impact Bank. Each winner profile includes the scoring methodology and commentary from the jury led by former SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara. The lead essay by Anand Adhikari examines the banking sector's journey from balance-sheet repair to growth and technology-driven transformation.

Regular sections include The Point, Q&A, Banking, India AI Summit, and the full survey ranking with methodology.

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Content Guide

▸ Cover Story / Banking

p.0 · The 30th BT-KPMG Survey of India's Best Banks and NBFCs
ICICI Bank tops the ranking for the 5th year running, followed by HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank. The survey evaluated 42 banks and 56 NBFCs on 18 parameters including asset quality, capital adequacy, digital adoption, and customer satisfaction. Dinesh Kumar Khara chaired the 7-member jury. The methodology section reveals that digital adoption now accounts for 20 percent of the total score, up from 10 percent in 2020. Banking analysts can use the 20-percent digital weighting to forecast future ranking shifts.

p.0 · Jury Chair Dinesh Kumar Khara's Commentary
The former SBI chairman notes that India's banking sector has moved from NPA clean-up to a growth phase, but warns that deposit mobilisation is the next big challenge. He cites the gap between credit growth at 14 percent and deposit growth at 9 percent as the sector's most pressing structural issue. Treasury teams can use the 5-point deposit gap as a metric for liquidity planning.

▸ Economy / Global Finance

p.10 · Labour Market Faces an AI Tsunami
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva states that 40 percent of jobs globally will be affected by AI, with advanced economies facing greater disruption than emerging markets. She urges countries to build social safety nets and reskilling programmes as a precondition for AI adoption. Policy researchers can use her 40 percent figure in workforce planning reports.

▸ Banking / Regulation

p.16 · RBI's ECB Overhaul
India Inc can now access foreign capital at lower rates under the revised ECB framework, which raises the borrowing limit from 750 million to 1.5 billion dollars per entity. The article expects ECB inflows to increase by 30 percent in FY2027. Corporate treasurers should review their ECB headroom against the new 1.5-billion-dollar limit.

p.24 · Retail Liquidity Is Shrinking
HSBC India's Hitendra Dave explains that banks prefer retail loans over corporate lending because retail offers better risk-adjusted returns, but the deposit side is struggling to keep pace. He expects the RBI to maintain a tight liquidity stance until inflation durably settles below 4 percent. Commercial lending teams can use his deposit-competition analysis in their pricing committees.

▸ Technology / AI

p.20 · India's AI Moment
Coverage from the India AI Summit reports that the centre of gravity in AI conversation is shifting to the Global South. The article profiles 4 Indian AI start-ups that are building foundational models for non-English Indian languages. AI product teams can use the start-up list as a partnership prospecting pipeline.

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Editor's Take

The 30th banking survey is the issue's anchor and justifies the cover price for anyone tracking Indian financial services. The 5-year ICICI Bank streak gives the ranking a narrative arc, and the expanded digital-adoption weighting makes the methodology more relevant than in previous years. Kristalina Georgieva's AI-and-labour interview adds global context and a genuinely newsworthy quote. The issue's weakness is that the banking survey dominates to the point where non-finance readers will feel excluded. The India AI Summit coverage is too brief to serve as a counterweight. The advertising from financial institutions is expected for a banking-themed issue but runs heavy.

Strengths
• ICICI Bank 5-year streak and expanded digital scoring make a strong ranking
• Georgieva interview adds global AI-labour context
• Hitendra Dave interview provides practical deposit-market insight

Weaknesses
• Banking survey overshadows all other editorial
• India AI Summit section is too short to be useful

Verdict: Recommended — Essential for banking and finance professionals; general business readers should buy only if the survey data directly applies to their work.