India’s financial technology sector is moving beyond mere domestic adoption to establish itself as a dominant global ecosystem, playing a pivotal role in the nation’s journey towards becoming a $30 trillion developed economy, or ‘Viksit Bharat,’ by 2047.
The sheer scale of India’s digital framework forms the core of its global leadership. This scale is driven by foundational platforms that leverage massive identity and payment rails. NITI Aayog CEO B.V.R. Subrahmanyam highlighted this unparalleled architecture when speaking at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai, stating:
“After 1.3 billion Aadhaar numbers, we followed up with UPI, which is the world’s largest digital payment system. Over 50% of world digital payments now happen on UPI. We followed that with Accounts Aggregator. So, this shows that India is the world’s largest FinTech ecosystem in size and scale.
The government has three large visions for FinTech. We want FinTech to enable economic growth. India is going to be a developed nation by 2047, an economy of $30 trillion. FinTech is going to be a major part of that story.
Number two, we will use FinTech for inclusive growth. So that every individual has not just a bank account, but can save money, can invest money, can buy insurance, have a pension. Everything through technology.
And third, India will set standards globally in FinTech. What is done in India will be the standard for the rest of the world. That is the goal.”
This statement encapsulates the three strategic pillars guiding the government’s approach: economic acceleration, deep inclusion, and global standard-setting. The explicit goal is to harness fintech to drive significant economic value, ensuring that the sector contributes substantially to the overall GDP growth required to achieve the $30 trillion mark.
The success story is rooted in the country’s unique Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), which has provided a scalable, inclusive, and cost-effective foundation for innovation across payments, lending, and wealth management. The confluence of enabling policy and exponential user growth has positioned India as the world’s laboratory for financial innovation.
Catalyzing Investment and Inclusion
The robust infrastructure and clear policy direction have attracted sustained investment, despite global downturns. Reports such as KMPG’s Pulse of Fintech indicate that while the quantum of funding may moderate, the quality and focus are becoming more strategic. Investment is increasingly pivoting away from generalized consumer payments toward deep-tech, regulatory technology (RegTech), and solutions that leverage the next generation of DPI like the Account Aggregator (AA) framework and the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). This strategic shift supports the government’s second pillar: inclusive growth.
The AA framework is particularly crucial for inclusion, enabling secure, consent-based data sharing which democratizes access to credit and insurance for underserved segments, including micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). By using technology to facilitate savings, investment, insurance, and pensions for every individual, fintech actively dismantles traditional barriers to formal financial services.
Furthermore, India is actively exporting its DPI model, with UPI being adopted in various international markets. This initiative directly addresses the third goal of setting global fintech standards. By offering a proven blueprint for low-cost, high-volume digital transactions and identity verification, India is transforming financial inclusion models worldwide.
This global leadership not only boosts soft power but also opens avenues for Indian fintech companies to expand their services internationally, cementing the nation’s reputation as a leader in financial digital transformation. The continuous evolution of the ecosystem, supported by clear regulatory oversight and strategic public-private collaboration, ensures that India’s fintech story remains one of high growth and profound societal impact.
