Banking in India and regulations of the Reserve Bank of India, banks in India except the State Bank of India (SBI), remain owned and operated by private persons. By the 1960s, the Indian banking industry had become an important tool to facilitate the development of the Indian economy. At the same time, it had emerged as a large employer, and a debate had ensued about the nationalisation of the banking industry. Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, expressed the intention of the Government of India in the annual conference of the All India Congress Meeting in a paper entitled ""Stray thoughts
Reserve Bank of India, South Zonal Office Bank of India Act, 1934 (II of 1934). The bank began its operations by taking over from the government the functions so far being performed by the Controller of Currency and from the Imperial Bank of India, the management of government accounts and public debt. The Central Office of the Reserve Bank, where the governor sits and where policies are formulated, was initially established in Calcutta but was permanently moved to Mumbai in 1937. The existing currency offices at Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Rangoon, Karachi, Lahore and Cawnpore (Kanpur) became branches of the Issue Department. Offices of the Banking Department were