India’s Fintech Growth can Become a Global Model
It is a part of the government's digital India program that came with three clearly defined goals, one of which is to expand the country's digital economy
“India’s fintech ecosystem is a stark demonstrator of the power of using technology in government and digital government and the impact it has on creating the innovation ecosystem,” says Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the minister of state for electronics and information technology (MeitY).
He made these comments at the conclusion of a three-day Fintech festival of India organized in the national capital by Constellar and supported by the Niti Aayog and six central ministries. The event was held at Pragati Maidan and saw some leading lights from the Fintech industry present their views on its growth and its future.
Elaborating on the idea, the minister said, “Post 2014, our Prime Minister announced his vision of Digital India where there were three objectives – technology must transform governance; create opportunities for India’s youth, expand digital economy as a part of the overall India’s economy and from being a consumer of technology, be a producer of technology.
“The citizen’s trust in the government is an outcome of that initiative. India’s fintech ecosystem is a stark demonstrator of the power of using technology in government and digital government and the impact it has on creating the innovation ecosystem,” he said.
Last year on August 15th while celebrating our country’s 75th year of independence, Narendra Modi announced that this is India’s ‘tech-ade’ as there are now a large number of opportunities for start-up and entrepreneurs. This decade will be built on the energy, hardwork, determination along with innovation and ideas of young Indians all around the country, he said.
Referring to the role of technology and recent policy changes, Mr. Baijayant Panda, national VP and spokesperson of the BJP, said India is no longer just a follower economy. GST is the single biggest economic reform witnessed in the 75 years and it has radically broadened the ambit of the formal economy making it accessible and traceable thanks to the fintech revolution. Besides cementing collaboration between the private and public sector, fintech has also emerged as a key collaborator between India and countries like Singapore and the UK.
“Fintech is already witnessing a hockey stick growth, today may it be eating golgappas or picking a snack from a paan shop, I can seamlessly make a digital payment, which showcases the massive adoption of fintech which is the highest globally at 87%, noticeably higher than the global average of 64%. Today the way we have bounced back economically to become the fastest growing large economy would have just not been possible without the FinTech revolution and the kind of governance and leadership the nation has witnessed,” Panda said.
The two day conference is being attended by leading industry stalwarts such as Sarbvir Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Policybazaar; Suhail Sameer, Chief Executive Officer, BharatPe; Raghu Ramanujam, Director of Product, Flipkart; Mridul Gupta, Chief Operating Officer, CoinDCX; Santosh Kumar, Innovation Head, Citi Markets India; Hitesh Sachdev, Head – Startup Engagement & Investments, ICICI Bank and Sunit Vakharia, Head – Consumer Banking Technology India, DBS Bank amongst others.
The conference was supported by the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Ministry of Small & Medium Enterprise (MSME), The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Ministry of Commerce and Industry), Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited ( A Government of India Enterprise – Under Ministry of Information & Broadcasting) and Startup India (Department for promotion of Industry and Internal Trade & Invest India). It has also received support from the Government of Tamil Nadu, Government of Karnataka and Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (ELCOT).