Private banks are those in which the major share or equity is held by private shareholders, as opposed to the government holding a major share in public sector banks. They are divided into two groups as per financial regulations in India. These banks play a vital role in the growth of the economy. In the Indian context, private sector banks are further categorised into two kinds: Old Private sector banks (the commencement of these banks is before 1968); and New Private sector banks which are established after the 1990s. As of March 2022, there are 21 private sector banks in India.
The following is the list of Private Banks and their Headquarters
| Name of Bank | Description of bank | Headquarters |
| Axis Bank | This bank provides effective financial services in India, established in December 1993. Initially, it was named UTI Bank and changed to Axis Bank in 2007. | Mumbai, Maharashtra |
| City Union Bank | V Krishnaswami Iyengar, S Krishna Iyer, and R Santhanam Iyer are the founding members of this bank. It was established in 1904, and was then known as Kumbakonam Bank Limited. | Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu |
| Catholic Syrian Bank | One of the oldest banks in India, it was set up in 1920. This bank has 450 branches. They provide various services, such as corporate banking, retail banking, SME banking, and treasury operations. | Thrissur, Kerala |
| Dhanlaxmi Bank | It is considered one of the most trustworthy and dignified banks in India. It was founded in 1927 and has 245 branches across the country. It is associated with various enterprises and companies for providing services to people. | Thrissur, Kerala |
| Development Credit Bank | The branches of this bank are present in 18 states and 2 union territories. They are well-developed with effective and upgraded infrastructure. | Mumbai, Maharashtra |
| Federal Bank | This bank was set up in 1931 and is now among the most prestigious banks in India. This bank has a vast network of 1,272 branches across the country. It also has some representative offices in other countries. | Aluva, Kochi |
| HDFC Bank | Due to its large banking network, this bank is the most popular in India. It also holds many assets and has a large market capitalization. It has more than 5,500 branches across India. | Mumbai, Maharashtra |
| ICICI Bank | It is one of the fastest-growing banking systems in India with more than 5,200 branches and a lot of subsidiaries. It was established in January 1955 and is known as the second-largest bank in India. It was previously called Industrial Credit and Corporation of India Bank. | Mumbai, Maharashtra |
| IDFC Bank | This was the first bank to receive the most customers in a day. Its focus is on the infrastructural development of private sector companies. It was merged with Capital First. It has 269 branches across the nation. | Mumbai, Maharashtra |
| Induslnd Bank | It was established in 1994 by SP Hinduja, and now it has an excellent banking network with 760 branches in India. Its main focus is to serve NRI customers. The Indus Valley Civilisation inspired the name of the bank. | Mumbai, Maharashtra |
| Jammu and Kashmir Bank | The bank was set up by Maharaja Hari Singh in 1938, with a focus on providing services to J&K. It has 964 beaches across the nation and collaborates with various banks and companies such as PNB, Mahindra & Mahindra, among others. | Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir |
| Karnataka Bank | BR Vysaray Achar founded the bank in 1924. Currently, it has 857 branches and 952 ATMs across the nation. | Mangalore, Karnataka |
| Kotak Mahindra Bank | This bank was founded in 1985. As per the latest statistics, this bank is the third-largest bank in India regarding assets. It has 1,699 branches across the nation. | Mumbai, Maharashtra |
| Karur Vysya Bank | It is one of the oldest banks in India, established by MA Venkatarama Cherriar and Athi Krishna Chettiar in 1916. It is a leading bank in India. The primary focus was improving the financial conditions and business requirements in Tamil Nadu. It has 779 branches across the nation. | Karur, Tamil Nadu |
| Lakshmi Vilas Bank | On 27 November 2020, this bank was merged with DBS Bank India Limited. DBS is a lead service provider bank in Asia, and it has branches across 18 countries. DBS also received the ‘Safest Bank in Asia’ award from Global Finance. | Karur, Tamil Nadu |
| Nainital Bank | This bank was founded in 1922 and has 162 bank branches across the nation. The main focus of this bank is to provide the best services to a small customer base. This bank is also associated with other banks, such as National Insurance Company Ltd., and HDFC Bank, among others. | Nainital, Uttarakhand |
| RBL Bank | This bank was founded in 1943 as Ratnakar Bank. The name was changed in 2014. Currently, it has more than 493 branches across the nation. | Kolhapur, Maharashtra |
| South Indian Bank | This bank was established in 1929 along with the Swadeshi movement. It has a large banking network and maintains a high level of transparency in operations. Currently, it has 924 branches across the nation. It was initially known as the first Kerala bank. | Thrissur, Kerala |
| Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Limited | It’s a renowned bank established in 1922. Currently, it has 509 branches and 1,135 ATMs across the nation. In the beginning, it was called Nadar Bank. | Tuticorin, Tamilnadu |
Conclusion
There are more than 15 private banks in India that have numerous branches across the country and abroad. There is rising competition between private sector banks due to the high rate of digitization and new artificial intelligence systems. However, some banks, such as HDFC, ICICI, etc., are outperforming most others in the banking market system.
