ICICI’s digital village in Gujarat launched

Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has dedicated private sector lender ICICI’s ‘Digital Village’ in Gujarat to the nation at an event which was organized to celebrate the bank’s 60 years of existence.

ICICI Bank has launched its own 'digital village' project in Gujarat, where it is providing services ranging from cashless banking to digitized school teaching.

ICICI Bank announced that it created the ‘ICICI Digital Village’ at Akodara in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat to enable villagers to use technology in various aspects of life including banking, payments, education and healthcare among others.

Here, financial transactions are cashless, text books are paperless, children read books on LED monitors and Tabs, patients can avail the facility of telemedicine and wi-fi connectivity is available across the village, a statement said.

Union Minister of Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information & Broadcasting Arun Jaitley, Governor of Maharashtra C Vidyasagar Rao and Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis were also present on the occasion.

Chanda Kochhar, Managing Director and CEO, ICICI Bank said: “We are proud to have converted Akodara in Gujarat from a village into a digital village. Our objective has been to show that technology can be used to eliminate barriers that separate rural and urban India. We hope that it will catalyse similar initiatives across the country and recreate rural India.”

“The last 60 years have seen many changes in India and the Indian economy. ICICI as an institution has not only mirrored these changes, but has always sought to be a catalyst for positive change that gives more strength to our country and our fellow citizens. Even as we have expanded and diversified, we have never forgotten that this institution was established to accelerate development in our country. This ethos continues to be the foundation of all our activities, “added Kochhar.