“No dearth of financial innovation and imagination in the country”: M Nagaraju, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, 26 November, 2024: “India’s fintech industry is the largest in the world and unlike in some other parts of the world its spread across several sectors”, stated Shri M Nagaraju, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, during the inaugural session at the Financial Inclusion and Fintech Summit of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in New Delhi today. In his Inaugural address, Shri M Nagaraju explained that the government remains committed to the goal of financial inclusion and it is working closely with the fintech industry to attain greater inclusivity especially in areas which remain under-penetrated.
“The Government is making a lot of efforts to foster ease of doing business and reduce compliance burden for the Fintech companies”, underlined Shri M Nagaraju. He underscored the government’s continuous endeavor to provide a facilitating ecosystem to the fintech industry including robust digital infrastructure as well as schemes such as PM Suraksha Bima Yojana and Atal Pension Yojana, which could bring huge opportunities for the industry.
While highlighting the importance of greater collaboration, Mr. M Nagaraju appreciated Confederation of Indian Industry for working closely with the government and the industry both in some of these endeavors.
"A fine balance is required between fostering innovation and protecting the regulatory system’s integrity," said Shri M Nagaraju while talking about some of the challenges the financial industry faces today. He stressed the importance of regulatory compliances to be able to stay one step ahead of fraudsters in the industry. Data privacy, cyber security etc. are some of the imperatives that need to be ensured along with a thriving fintech industry.
Shri M Nagaraju also highlighted the need of greater financial literacy not just for younger people but also for older generation to democratize the benefits emerging from greater innovations.
Shri Shaji KV, Chairman, NABARD, emphasized the need to bring about the technological transformation in a more democratic manner especially in the rural economy. He highlighted that while bigger banks have benefited from greater digitization, cooperative banks and regional rural banks may not have reaped the benefits of digitization to a similar extent. Given that these banks may not have sufficient funds to invest in new technologies, it is important that all stakeholders make a greater effort to include RRBs and cooperative banks in new digital endeavours. In this context, he recommended that the fintech companies could capitalize on recently announced government schemes to bring in enhanced equitability of growth in the country.
