New Delhi, July 23 -- On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of India released the reading of its Financial Inclusion Index for 2024-25.

At 67, its value has risen from 64.2 recorded the previous year, thanks to gains across all sub-indices-namely, for financial access, usage and quality.

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According to the central bank, which created this index more than half a decade ago and published its first ever reading of 53.9 for 2020-21 in August 2021, last year's increase was led by progress on the dimensions of usage and quality, "reflecting the deepening of financial inclusion and sustained financial literacy initiatives."

That public access to formal services is the hardest...