Indian economy is firming up, banking system safe: SBI, HDFC Bank chiefs

Credit demand is firming up and coming from roads, solar power projects, and the oil and gas sector, particularly city gas projects in the case of SBI

There is no cause for despair about the Indian economy though it is going through a phase of slowdown, said two top-most bankers of the country in a fireside chat at the Business Standard Annual Banking Forum last Friday. 

Companies have started enquiring about fresh loans, and there are signs that economic recovery is taking shape, according to Rajnish Kumar, chairman of country’s largest, public-sector bank, State Bank of India (SBI), and Aditya Puri, managing director of the largest private-sector bank, HDFC Bank. “Demand slowdown is a reality. But the fact is also that in October and November, everybody says