India’s best is yet to come, says PM Modi as he drops hints of being on saddle beyond five years

Mumbai: In a significant political statement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicated that he would be on the saddle beyond the next five years too and continue the nation's economic transformation as India’s best is yet to come.

Modi’s statement came at the inauguration of the fifth annual Global Fintech Fest (GFF) being held at the Jio World Convention Centre at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai.

The Prime Minister expressed confidence that India’s fintech ecosystem will play a huge role in providing a quality lifestyle to the people of India.

“I am confident that India's Fintech ecosystem will enhance the Ease of Living of the entire world. Our best is yet to come…India's fintech revolution is playing a big role in improving the Dignity of Life and Quality of Life”, the Prime Minister said adding that the GGF is into its fifth edition now and that he would be present in the 10th edition of GFF, five years later.

The GFF is the annual fintech conference organised by the Payments Council of India (PCI), the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Fintech Governance Council (FCC).

Modi held that India’s fintech revolution is widespread for one to witness right from the moment of their arrival at the airport to street food and shopping experience.

“In the last 10 years, the industry has received a record investment of more than $31 billion along with witnessing a startup growth of 500 percent,” he said highlighting affordable mobile phones, inexpensive data and Jan Dhan Bank accounts starting with zero balance for bringing in a revolution.

“Today, the total number of broadband users in the country has increased from 60 million to 940 million,” Shri Modi said, further highlighting that there is hardly any 18-year-old in the country without an Aadhaar, a digital identification.

“Today, more than 530 million people in the country have Jhan Dhan accounts. In a way we have connected a population equivalent to that of the entire European Union to banks in just 10 years,” he added.

Modi said that the trinity of Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile have broken down the mentality of ‘Cash is King’ and made way for approximately half of the digital transactions in the world taking place in India.

“India’s UPI has become a major example of Fintech in the world” the Prime Minister said adding that it has enabled 27 X 7 banking services in every village and city in all weather conditions. Recalling the Covid pandemic,” the Prime Minister said that India was one of the handful of nations in the world where the banking system remained uninterrupted.

The Prime Minister highlighted the 10th anniversary of Jan Dhan Yojna a few days ago and said that it has become a huge medium for women empowerment. He informed that more than 29 crore bank accounts have been set up for women so far opening up new opportunities for savings and investments.

Modi further added that the largest microfinance scheme, Mudra Yojna, was launched on the philosophy of Jan Dhan accounts and has disbursed a credit of Rs 27 trillion so far. “70 percent of the beneficiaries of this scheme are women”, he said.

He further explained that Jan Dhan accounts are also used in connecting self-help groups with the banking system and have benefited 10 crore rural women. “Jan Dhan Program has laid strong foundations of financial empowerment of women”, PM Modi remarked.

Cautioning about the dangers of a parallel economy for the world, the Prime Minister remarked that Fintech has played an impactful role in denting such a system and credited the emergence of transparency.

He said that digital technology has introduced transparency in India and gave the example of the implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer used in hundreds of government schemes that has prevented leakages in the system. “Today, people can see the benefits of aligning with the formal banking system”, the Prime Minister reiterated.