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@article{172948,
        author = {AYUSH PANDEY and Leesha Mahajan and Vivek Kumar Gupta and Abhishek Singh},
        title = {Determinants of Financial Inclusion in India},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2025},
        volume = {11},
        number = {9},
        pages = {1588-1605},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=172948},
        abstract = {This study analyses the determinants of financial inclusion in India over the period 1991–2018. Financial inclusion, recognized by the United Nations as a key enabler of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), has gained increasing policy attention in India, particularly since 2004. While earlier efforts, such as bank nationalization and the establishment of regional rural banks, sought to extend financial services to marginalized communities, their impact remained constrained. This research constructs a composite Financial Inclusion Index (FII) using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to quantify the level of financial inclusion. Subsequently, employing the Johansen cointegration methodology, the study investigates the long-run equilibrium relationship between the constructed FII and a set of macroeconomic and socio-demographic factors: GDP growth rate, internet penetration rate, inflation, age dependency ratio, and gross secondary school enrolment ratio. The analysis aims to identify the key drivers of financial inclusion in India, contributing to a deeper understanding of its dynamics and informing policy interventions aimed at promoting broader access to financial services. Furthermore, the study explores the evolution of financial inclusion policies in India, contextualizing the quantitative analysis within the broader policy landscape.},
        keywords = {financial inclusion, principal component analysis, Johansen cointegration, index, India, SDGs},
        month = {February},
        }