India’s fintech revolution has expanded access to credit: FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Emphasising fintech’s central role in India’s financial inclusion push, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on October 14 said the rapid expansion of digital infrastructure and fintech applications has allowed credit to be delivered without collateral, while enabling near-universal access to payments.

At the inauguration of the dhaRti BioNEST Incubation Centre at IIT Dharwad, she said fintech has built a “fantastic foundation” for both rural and urban India. “India stands out in having tried, tested, scaled up and sped up adaptability of FinTech solutions all at one go in a matter of seven, eight years. We couldn't have achieved financial inclusion without the Jan Dhan yojana, which depended on the digital public infrastructure,” she said.

Digital lending

Sitharaman noted that loans can now be delivered based solely on digital identity, without requiring sovereign guarantees or collateral. “Today he can get it just by proving his digital identity,” she said.

She added that fintech-driven QR payments have become ubiquitous, making plastic cards “irrelevant”. Digital payment adaptability in India stands at 87 percent, compared to the global average of 61–62 percent, reflecting the scale of the fintech revolution. Credit availability for small businesses has also improved due to fintech, further bridging the rural–urban divide.

Retaining talent

The Finance Minister highlighted India’s efforts to create an enabling environment for startups and technology-driven research. “India is providing that enabling environment for startups, be it for pure science research, or be it even for technology driven app researchers. Retention or holding back or attracting talent should now be possible for us,” she said.

Green transition

Sitharaman also discussed the global energy scenario, noting that many countries are finding natural gas unaffordable as a transitional energy source and are reverting to coal. “There are countries which are saying gas is unaffordable. Because at one point in time, a lot of people thought natural gas would be the transitional energy for countries to move from fossil fuel to green energy. But transitional gas costs are becoming unaffordable for countries. So many countries who can't afford it, but who have some coal available in their countries are reverting back to using coal,” she said.

She added that with technology and transitional gas either unavailable or unaffordable, many countries are slowing their net-zero carbon efforts. In contrast, India has funded its own green energy programmes. “We have come up with green bonds so that people can fund green activities. We are making sure that green is also given support by the government, by CSR funds. We will launch the hydrogen mission. We are looking at green energy as a government driven program, a lot of productivity linked incentives are also ready for them. So there is a marathon, both from the government and from the private sector, to make India move towards a sustainable green model,” she said.