India a Bright Spot Despite Global Challenges; Tech Integration Key To Next Phase: DFS Secretary

Speaking at the ‘PICUP Fintech Conference Awards’ organised by FICCI and the Indian Banks Association (IBA), he noted India’s GDP growth rose to 7.6 per cent in 2025–26 from 7.1 per cent in the previous year, while the banking system remains strong with gross NPAs at 2.2 per cent and net NPAs around 0.5 per cent. Financial Inclusion and Digital Growth Nagaraju highlighted that financial inclusion remains central, with over 58 crore accounts opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, nearly half held by women. Insurance schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana have covered 84 crore beneficiaries, while Rs 39 lakh crore has been disbursed under MUDRA loans. Nagaraju emphasised that, as India steps into its digital decade, the vision is to position the country as a global leader in digital governance where technology empowers every citizen. He added, “The heart of this is India emerging as a leader in digital public infrastructure, including Aadhaar, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), account aggregator framework, etc.” UPI Expansion The Secretary highlighted that UPI recorded around 22 billion transactions worth over Rs 29 trillion last month, emerging as the world’s largest real-time retail payment system and expanding globally. He said, “UPI has emerged as the largest real time retail payment system in the world. India’s digital payment system is now expanding beyond our borders. UPI is operational in many countries and several more are in pipeline. This scale reflects not just widespread adoption but the emergence of UPI as a foundation pillar of India’s digital economy and financial inclusion.” Vision 2030 and Challenges Nagaraju outlined three priorities for Vision 2030: financing growth, deepening financial inclusion, and ensuring system resilience. He emphasised, “Growth that is not inclusive cannot be sustained over a long period of time. A strong financial system must be capable of supporting growth during favorable times but also withstanding shocks during periods of uncertainty.” “AI has potential to make financial inclusion not just socially desirable but commercially sustainable. AI must be seen not just as a disruptor but as an enabler of responsible inclusion. Cyber security threats, data privacy concerns, credit and asset quality risk, trust deficit are some challenges which needs to be managed to sustain long-term growth,” he added. (KNN Bureau)