Speaking atthe Delhi Micro Experience of FinTech Festival India 2021-22, in her opening key note address, Ms. Simmi Chaudhary, Economic Adviser & Group Coordinator, MeitY, said, “Fintech industry has emerged as a key catalyst for financial inclusion with an immense potential to be a game changing, disruptive, innovation capable of transforming the traditional financial sector.
Three digital forces will drive transformation – ‘Greater ease with which people can connect, collaborate, transact and share information’, ‘Opportunity for companies to increase productivity by automating routine task’ and ‘Greater ease with which the organisations can analyse data to make insights and to improve decision making.’ The interplay of these forces will create a new data ecosystems which in turn will spur new products, services and channels in virtually every business sector and create economic value for consumers as well as for entrepreneurs.”
“The government is committed towards providing a conducive environment for growth of innovators and startups. Our efforts in Aadhar, BHIM UPI and many other platforms have proven the transformational potential. Concerted initiatives such as MeitY Startup Hub, Tide 2.0, Centres of excellence etc. have provided the significant impetus to businesses to ideate, innovate and grow. Our endeavor is to leverage our tech talent to establish India as a talent nation and as a product nation. We are now moving towards breaking down silos to ensure convergence, reorganizing valuable datasets, building innovative solutions, ensuring aggressive infusion of emerging technologies in developing products that are solving persisting societal problems.” Ms. Chaudhary added.
Talking about the road ahead for India, Ms. Simmi Chaudhary said, “The right mix of regulation, innovation and talent will take us together on the pathway of a future wherein our aspiration to build solutions for not just solving India’s problem but to cater to next billions will meet opportunities.”
FinTech Festival India is organised by Constellar Exhibitions (a subsidiary of TEMASEK and Singapore Press Holdings which organizes Singapore FinTech Festival) and supported by Niti Aayog and six central government ministries.
The daylong conference in Delhi was also attended by some well-known stalwarts such as leading actor, philanthropist, investor and entrepreneur – Sonu Sood, Abhishek Singh(IAS), Deputy Commissioner, New Delhi, Dr. Ajai Garg, Scientist F/ Director, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), Govt. of India., Rajat Mukarji, Director General, Broadband India Forum, Ashish Singhal, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, CoinSwitch, Gaurav Chopra, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, IndiaLends and Gurjodhpal Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Tide India among others.
Dr. Ajai Garg, Scientist F/ Director, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), Govt. of India., said, “India has shown the way to the world by using technology to change the way general public can be benefitted and included in the growth of an economy. Regulators follow the technology, if the technology shows enough promise the regulators will back it up in the fintech market. UPI is a live example of that. Similar possibilities exist for micro lending fintechs as well. When the Govt. and private sector comes together challenges can be turned into bigger opportunities, Aadhar is an example of this. India should be home for small plug and play cybersecurity solutions for different sectors.”
Leading actor, philanthropist, investor and entrepreneur, Sonu Sood, said, “Fintechs are the leaders of tomorrow. In another couple of years the whole country will be fintech-connected. I am already associated with a rural fintech called SpiceMoney which is driving financial inclusion in the interiors of our country and also open to explore more opportunities in the fintech space.”
A white paper on ‘RegTech, 5G & Crypto in India’ was also unveiled today in front of the august gathering. Published by Ernst & Young (EY), Knowledge Partner of FFI, the white paper deep-dives into Regulatory technology in India, 5G and its impact on the country and India’s cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Ashish Singhal, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, CoinSwitch, said “CoinSwitch Kuber is thrilled to be powering Fintech Festival India. The Delhi event is a truly unique hybrid experience with the attendees joining in virtually while the on-ground event is conducted physically. Fintech in India has seen a phenomenal rise over the last 5 years and the crypto industry, although nascent presently, is now picking up pace. One of the key aspects driving growth in fintech, is regulation, and confident that crypto will grow faster once the regulatory framework is in place. I am looking forward to speaking on a panel regarding the evolving regulatory landscape of fintech in India. I wish the FFI team all the luck and great success in the Capital.”
Fintech Festival India is the country’s largest FinTech confluence, to be held till March 2022. It will witness participation from over 500 Indian and global leaders and 12,000+ delegates. FFI will see participation from Brazil, Israel, UK, Russia, Canada, Finland, Japan, Singapore among others.
The conferences are being supported by Government of India’s Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Ministry of Small & Medium Enterprise (MSME), The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Ministry of Commerce and Industry), Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited ( A Government of India Enterprise – Under Ministry of Information & Broadcasting) and Startup India (Department for promotion of Industry and Internal Trade & Invest India).
Fintech Festival India will be conducted in physical and digital format through 10 Micro Experience Conferences in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Guwahati, Chennai, Mumbai, Gift City (Ahmedabad) and Pune. The festival will end with a 3-day mega event in New Delhi from March 9 – 11, 2022.
The next Micro Experience will be held in Chennai on 29th October 2021.
In addition to the government, FFI which aims to unleash the power of FinTech across the country, has also drawn interest from industry including Indian insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and World Trade Centre Mumbai.
