Which of the following is not included in the assets of a commercial bank in India?

Answer: (b) Deposits

Deposits are not an asset of a bank; they are its liability, because the bank owes that money back to depositors. What a bank holds and earns from, such as loans and advances, investments, and money lent at call and short notice, are its assets.

• ✓ (b) In the prescribed bank balance sheet (Form A, Third Schedule to the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, reproduced by RBI), Deposits appear under Capital and Liabilities. NCERT's model bank balance sheet likewise records deposits as liabilities and loans and reserves as assets.
• ✗ (a) Advances (loans given to borrowers) are the bank's main earning asset and are listed under Assets in Form A.
• ✗ (c) Investments, mainly in government and other securities, are held by the bank and appear on the assets side (Form A lists Investments under Assets).
• ✗ (d) Money at call and short notice is short-term lending to other banks and is an asset; Form A lists 'Balance with banks and money at call and short notice' first among the assets after cash and balances with RBI.

Remember · For a bank, deposits are liabilities (owed to customers); loans and advances, investments, and cash and short-term lending are assets.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Introductory Macroeconomics, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). · Report an error