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Growth and Development of Commercial Banks
Introduction
Money-lending business in India is almost as old as the Rig Vedic Civilization and we can justifiably claim that India knew more about banking, and knew it earlier, than any other country in the world, though we do not know about its methods, dimensions and importance. There are frequent references made to the money-lending activities of the olden days in the various Hindu Scriptures. In Kautilya’s Arthashastra, we get detailed regulations as regards the rate of interest that might be legally charged from different types of borrowers. The Dharma Shastras also laid down that the rate of interest should differ according to the caste of the borrower and that only Vaishyas could take up ...
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