Editing Indira Gandhi (section)

=== Nationalisation ===
Despite the provisions, control and regulations of the [[Reserve Bank of India]], most banks in India had continued to be owned and operated by private persons.<ref name="Gomez">{{cite book|first=Clifford|last=Gomez|title=Financial Markets Institutions And Financial Services
|publisher=PHI|year=2008|page=283|isbn=978-81-203-3537-0}}</ref> Businessmen who owned the banks were often accused of channeling the deposits into their own companies and ignoring [[priority sector lending]]. Furthermore, there was a great resentment against ''class'' banking in India, which had left the poor (the majority of the population) [[unbanked]].<ref name="Off the record">{{cite news |author=Akshat Kaushal |url=http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/offrecord/436974/ |title=Off the record |publisher=Business-standard.com |date=28 May 2011 |access-date=31 July 2013 |newspaper=[[Business Standard, India]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111119170848/http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/offrecord/436974/ |archive-date=19 November 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> After becoming prime minister, Gandhi expressed her intention of nationalising the banks to alleviate poverty in a paper titled, "Stray thoughts on Bank Nationalisation".<ref name="Muralidharan1">{{cite book|last=Muralidharan|title=Modern Banking: Theory And Practice|publisher=PHI|year=2009|page=364|isbn=978-81-203-3655-1}}</ref> The paper received overwhelming public support.<ref name="Muralidharan1" /> In 1969, Gandhi moved to nationalise fourteen major commercial banks. After this, public sector bank branch deposits increased by approximately 800 percent; advances took a huge jump by 11,000 percent.<ref name="Muralidharan2">{{cite book|last=Muralidharan|title=Modern Banking: Theory And Practice|publisher=PHI|year=2009|page=4|isbn=978-81-203-3655-1}}</ref> Nationalisation also resulted in significant growth in the geographic coverage of banks; the number of bank branches rose from 8,200 to over 62,000, most of which were opened in unbanked, rural areas. The nationalisation drive not only helped to increase household savings, but it also provided considerable investments in the informal sector, in small- and medium-sized enterprises, and in agriculture, and contributed significantly to regional development and to the expansion of India's industrial and agricultural base.<ref name="Singh">{{cite book|first=Kavaljit|last=Singh|title=Questioning Globalization
|publisher=[[Zed Books]]|year=2005|page=45|isbn=978-1-84277-279-9}}</ref> Jayaprakash Narayan, who became famous for leading the opposition to Gandhi in the 1970s, solidly praised her nationalisation of banks.<ref name="Off the record" />

Having been re-elected in 1971 on a nationalisation platform, Gandhi proceeded to nationalise the coal, steel, copper, refining, cotton textiles, and insurance industries.<ref name="Rosser" /> Most of this was done to protect employment and the interests of organised labour.<ref name="Rosser" /> The remaining private sector industries were placed under strict regulatory control.<ref name="Rosser" /> During the [[Indo-Pakistani war of 1971]], foreign-owned private oil companies had refused to supply fuel to the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force. In response, Gandhi nationalised some oil companies in 1973.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=4 July 2015|title=Energy Geopolitics – An Overview|url=http://greatgameindia.com/energy-geopolitics-an-overview/|journal=GreatGameIndia Magazine|issue=July–Sept 2015 issue|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160628175408/http://greatgameindia.com/energy-geopolitics-an-overview/|archive-date=28 June 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> However, major nationalisations occurred in 1974 and 1976, forming the oil majors.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chaudhury|first=Saumitra|date=1977|title=Nationalisation of Oil Companies in India|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4365379|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=12|issue=10|pages=437–444|jstor=4365379|issn=0012-9976|access-date=28 July 2021|archive-date=28 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728041429/https://www.jstor.org/stable/4365379|url-status=live}}</ref> After nationalisation, the oil majors including the [[Indian Oil Corporation]] (IOC), the [[Hindustan Petroleum Corporation]] (HPCL), and the [[Bharat Petroleum Corporation]] (BPCL) had to keep a minimum stock level of oil to be supplied to the military when needed.<ref>{{cite book|first=Ved |last=Luthra|title=Poverty And Economic Reforms|location=New Delhi|publisher=Sarup & Sons|year=2005|page=293|isbn=978-81-7890-136-7}}</ref>