The pool of credit-worthy individuals in India remains small and needs to expand, BVR Subrahmanyam, CEO of Niti Aayog, said at the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2025, highlighting the transformative role of technology and fintech in meeting the country’s finance needs, TOI reported.
At the Global Fintech Festival, speaking to Kunal Shah, founder of Cred, Subrahmanyam said India, now the world’s fourth-largest economy, aims to become a developed country by 2047 with a per capita GDP of $18,000 and a total GDP of $30 trillion—surpassing the United States. “These goals are set because India has largely resolved the problems of the past: hunger, poverty, illiteracy, and disease,” he said.
“Finance is the oil that greases the wheels. Without it, nothing moves. Technology can help create new types of organizations to manage financial functions, and fintech is central to this transformation,” Subrahmanyam added.
On credit inclusion, he noted that traditional lending relied heavily on collateral, but digitalization now allows financial behaviour and cash flows to guide credit decisions. “India’s credit needs are immense—trillions of dollars for a $30 trillion economy. Large gaps remain for women, MSMEs, and youth. Fintech can use alternative data to expand credit, even in smaller doses initially,” he said, citing schemes like Mudra and PM Vishwakarma that enhance loans based on repayment history.
Subrahmanyam also stressed women’s labour force participation as a driver of growth. “Women’s participation has risen 8–10% over the last decade but remains too low. Increasing it by 10% can add 1.5% to GDP growth,” he said. He highlighted flexible work, safety, mentorship, and access to credit as key enablers, noting that tech-enabled finance can provide low-cost credit to underserved groups, building on the self-help group movement.
He outlined India’s digital ecosystem, anchored in the JAM trinity—Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, and mobile—which has enabled 500 million Jan Dhan accounts, 1.3 billion Aadhaar numbers, and over 20 billion UPI transactions annually. Innovations such as the account aggregator framework have strengthened fintech at scale, giving India a chance to meet domestic credit needs while emerging as a global fintech leader.
On artificial intelligence, Subrahmanyam described it as a transformative disruptor. “AI can improve tasks, transform processes, and, in some cases, eliminate the need for certain processes entirely. India has the scale, technology, and digital base to innovate rapidly,” he said, noting that regulators will need sandboxes and activity-based regulation to support experimentation while maintaining safety.
Acknowledging evolving fintech investment, he said, “Innovation ecosystems develop over time. Early funding benefited from global low-interest rates, but opportunities remain for good ideas. Fintech 1.0 enhanced traditional finance; Fintech 2.0 will integrate AI and expand to untapped markets.”
Looking ahead, he envisioned a comprehensive fintech 2.0 platform by 2047, serving all individual needs—transactions, payments, savings, investments, insurance, and pensions—with products tailored for women, youth, MSMEs, and remote populations. “India will set global standards, and by leveraging technology wisely, we can achieve Viksit Bharat and become a global leader in fintech,” Subrahmanyam said.
(With inputs from TOI)
At the Global Fintech Festival, speaking to Kunal Shah, founder of Cred, Subrahmanyam said India, now the world’s fourth-largest economy, aims to become a developed country by 2047 with a per capita GDP of $18,000 and a total GDP of $30 trillion—surpassing the United States. “These goals are set because India has largely resolved the problems of the past: hunger, poverty, illiteracy, and disease,” he said.
“Finance is the oil that greases the wheels. Without it, nothing moves. Technology can help create new types of organizations to manage financial functions, and fintech is central to this transformation,” Subrahmanyam added.
On credit inclusion, he noted that traditional lending relied heavily on collateral, but digitalization now allows financial behaviour and cash flows to guide credit decisions. “India’s credit needs are immense—trillions of dollars for a $30 trillion economy. Large gaps remain for women, MSMEs, and youth. Fintech can use alternative data to expand credit, even in smaller doses initially,” he said, citing schemes like Mudra and PM Vishwakarma that enhance loans based on repayment history.
Subrahmanyam also stressed women’s labour force participation as a driver of growth. “Women’s participation has risen 8–10% over the last decade but remains too low. Increasing it by 10% can add 1.5% to GDP growth,” he said. He highlighted flexible work, safety, mentorship, and access to credit as key enablers, noting that tech-enabled finance can provide low-cost credit to underserved groups, building on the self-help group movement.
He outlined India’s digital ecosystem, anchored in the JAM trinity—Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, and mobile—which has enabled 500 million Jan Dhan accounts, 1.3 billion Aadhaar numbers, and over 20 billion UPI transactions annually. Innovations such as the account aggregator framework have strengthened fintech at scale, giving India a chance to meet domestic credit needs while emerging as a global fintech leader.
On artificial intelligence, Subrahmanyam described it as a transformative disruptor. “AI can improve tasks, transform processes, and, in some cases, eliminate the need for certain processes entirely. India has the scale, technology, and digital base to innovate rapidly,” he said, noting that regulators will need sandboxes and activity-based regulation to support experimentation while maintaining safety.
Acknowledging evolving fintech investment, he said, “Innovation ecosystems develop over time. Early funding benefited from global low-interest rates, but opportunities remain for good ideas. Fintech 1.0 enhanced traditional finance; Fintech 2.0 will integrate AI and expand to untapped markets.”
Looking ahead, he envisioned a comprehensive fintech 2.0 platform by 2047, serving all individual needs—transactions, payments, savings, investments, insurance, and pensions—with products tailored for women, youth, MSMEs, and remote populations. “India will set global standards, and by leveraging technology wisely, we can achieve Viksit Bharat and become a global leader in fintech,” Subrahmanyam said.
(With inputs from TOI)
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