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Mint
4 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Finance minister Sitharaman calls for fintech innovation; highlights its role in MSME growth
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman highlighted the role of fintech innovation in the growth of digital public infrastructure in the country and the easing of access to financial services for small businesses during a visit to Pine Labs, a fintech firm based in Noida. Underscoring the growing role of fintech in the digital transformation of the economy, the minister reviewed innovations in prepaid instruments and digital tools supporting the delivery of welfare schemes, according to a series of posts on the social media platform 'X' by the minister's office. "We want every State to speed up on digitisation. We are also helping them in expediting it. While giving the 50-year interest-free loans to States for capital expenditure, we underline that we will incentivise States who get on to digitise their records at the earliest. So, we want digitisation to happen sooner and in every sector," a tweet from the minister's office quoted her as saying. During the visit, the minister also witnessed demonstrations by Pine Labs on innovative fintech solutions being developed around the account aggregator (AA) framework, a system that allows people to share their financial data across institutions. The minister's visit to the fintech enterprise comes in the context of the massive adoption of digital payments across the economy, including among small businesses and retailers, giving a strong boost to the formalisation of the economy. "Smt @nsitharaman visits the office of Pine Labs (@PineLabs), a digital Fintech company, in Noida. The Hon'ble FM interacted with the employees and staff there, acknowledging India's Fintech firms' contribution to expanding country's Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and in enabling seamless, secure and inclusive financial services for merchants and MSMEs," said another tweet. MSMEs refers to micro, small, and medium enterprises. Sitharaman witnessed demonstrations of the fintech firm's innovative solutions for prepaid instruments, the account aggregator framework, and digital services used in the Public Distribution System (PDS) and other government schemes and services. The government has been key in focusing on the digitisation of payments and financial services, and India has emerged as a hub of fintech solutions and innovations in the past few years, with several startups emerging in this space. In a February report, EY noted that India has positioned itself as a competitive fintech hub globally with the highest fintech adoption rate. "When compared to its peers and other FinTech hubs like UK, US, China, and Singapore, India scores high in regulatory and government support, funding, technological preparedness and entrepreneurial spirit," it said. The report noted that the Indian fintech ecosystem continues to evolve and that there are challenges to address, including regulatory concerns, data security, and low financial literacy among users. The EY report noted that the Indian fintech market is expected to expand by 30% to reach $180-200 billion by 2029, fuelled by rising income, awareness and digital infrastructure. "By transforming challenges into opportunities through innovation, India can leverage its FinTech potential to achieve its Viksit Bharat 2047 vision of becoming a developed nation," it said.
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Business Standard
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
FM Sitharaman signals policy support to fintech sector with Pine Labs visit
In a signal that the government wants to understand the issues faced by the fintech sector and help it grow, Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday visited the office of digital fintech company Pine Labs in Noida and interacted with their employees. The FM highlighted that the government wants every state to speed up efforts on digitisation. Sources in the government said that the FM is likely to visit more fintech companies and global capability centres (GCCs) in different cities, including Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad. The feedback being gathered is likely to feed into the next set of big-ticket reforms and also the Budget for the next financial year, sources said. 'We want every state to speed up digitisation. We are also helping them in expediting it. While giving the 50-year interest-free loans to states for capital expenditure, we underline that we will incentivise those states that get on to digitise their records at the earliest. So, we want digitisation to happen sooner and in every sector,' Sitharaman said. She said there was momentum on the ground towards digitisation but it needs to be raised to higher levels. Responding to a question on comparing the Indian economy to a woman, Sitharaman said there is no struggle unless she chooses to have a struggle for herself. 'She needs a lot of support, no doubt. She is just touching 30, a highly productive age where a certain level of maturity sets in but can be at a threshold where some insecurity can come in. But, nothing to worry… India has given scope to education. There is no country where women have the freedom that they have here,' the FM said. Citing the example of Operation Sindoor, Sitharaman said India acted as a determined woman who would not allow her citizens to suffer. A post by Sitharaman's office on social media platform X talked about how the FM, during her visit, acknowledged the contribution being made by fintech firms towards expanding the country's digital public infrastructure and also enabling seamless, secure and inclusive financial services for merchants and MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises). In another post, the FM's office highlighted an interaction with Kuldeep Chauhan, a mobile retailer from Uttar Pradesh's Hapur district, and how he had seen remarkable growth in his business due to the widespread adoption of digital payments across the country. In his post, Amrish Rau, chief executive officer (CEO) of Pine Labs, said: 'Today was an exciting and unbelievable day. We got an opportunity to host our Hon. Finance Minister@nsitharaman to explore & understand ideas in Fintech! It was a full house and our FM was completely immersed in her interactions and Tech discussions!' Building digital public infrastructure has been high on the government's agenda to accelerate financial inclusion. An earlier report on digital public infrastructure by India's G20 task force had said that it should be universally applicable but nations should be able to use plug-and-play models to keep intact their sovereignty and data ownership. The report, finalised during India's G20 presidency, gave examples such as the API Setu and open APIs, published by India's Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN). API stands for application programming interface. In February 2024, heads of fintech firms, including Pine Labs, were invited by the FM to discuss ongoing regulatory issues in the fintech sector.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
India carried out precision strikes in Pakistan, no wrong attack: Sitharaman
India carried out precise strikes in Pakistan under Operation Sindoor and there was no wrong attack, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday. During an interaction with staff of Pine Labs, a fintech company, in Noida, the minister said India has reached such a level that countries globally are recognising it for its achievements. "And Operation Sindoor actually showed that. Look at the way our armed forces handled the situation. They were very clear from the beginning to the end that they wanted to attack the terrorist centres and hit them," Sitharaman said. Following the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, in which 26 people were killed, Indian armed forces launched Operation Sindoor and hit terror infrastructure in Pakistan. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 15 Most Beautiful Female Athletes in the World Click Here Undo "If they (Pakistan) were rational enough, they wouldn't have done any more mischief because they don't take any action against terrorists, they allow them to roam in their country freely," she said. Stressing that Pakistan has, literally, become the fountainhead for terrorism, Sitharaman said India was determined not to allow its citizens to suffer, and thereafter, "We hit the air bases in Pakistan. We had the technology which could talk between the three forces. We carried out hits at precise targets and there was no wrong attack". Live Events The minister, who was visiting the company's office, also witnessed demonstrations by Pine Labs on innovative fintech solutions being developed around prepaid instruments, the Account Aggregator (AA) framework, and digital services used in the Public Distribution System (PDS) and other government schemes and services.
The Print
4 days ago
- Business
- The Print
India carried out precision strikes in Pakistan, no wrong attack: Sitharaman
'And Operation Sindoor actually showed that. Look at the way our armed forces handled the situation. They were very clear from the beginning to the end that they wanted to attack the terrorist centres and hit them,' Sitharaman said. During an interaction with staff of Pine Labs, a fintech company, in Noida, the minister said India has reached such a level that countries globally are recognising it for its achievements. New Delhi, May 27 (PTI) India carried out precise strikes in Pakistan under Operation Sindoor and there was no wrong attack, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday. Following the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, in which 26 people were killed, Indian armed forces launched Operation Sindoor and hit terror infrastructure in Pakistan. 'If they (Pakistan) were rational enough, they wouldn't have done any more mischief because they don't take any action against terrorists, they allow them to roam in their country freely,' she said. Stressing that Pakistan has, literally, become the fountainhead for terrorism, Sitharaman said India was determined not to allow its citizens to suffer, and thereafter, 'We hit the air bases in Pakistan. We had the technology which could talk between the three forces. We carried out hits at precise targets and there was no wrong attack'. The minister, who was visiting the company's office, also witnessed demonstrations by Pine Labs on innovative fintech solutions being developed around prepaid instruments, the Account Aggregator (AA) framework, and digital services used in the Public Distribution System (PDS) and other government schemes and services. PTI NKD NKD BAL BAL BAL This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
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Business Standard
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
FM Sitharaman visits Pine Labs Noida office, lauds India's fintech sector
During her visit to Pine Labs in Noida, FM Sitharaman praised India's fintech sector for delivering secure and inclusive digital financial services to MSMEs and merchants New Delhi Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday highlighted how fintech innovations are delivering seamless, secure, and inclusive financial services to merchants and medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs). During her visit to the Noida office of Pine Labs, a leading fintech firm, FM Sitharaman lauded India's fintech companies for their role in strengthening the country's Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). At Pine Labs office, she witnessed demonstrations of innovative solutions being developed around prepaid instruments, the Account Aggregator (AA) framework, and digital services for the Public Distribution System (PDS) and other government schemes. The finance minister also interacted with Pine Labs employees and customers during her visit. Among them was Kuldeep Chauhan, a mobile retailer from Noida and a customer of Pine Labs. Chauhan shared with FM Sitharaman how his business has experienced significant growth thanks to the widespread adoption of digital payments. Pine Labs is a fintech company, known for its innovative solutions in the payment and merchant commerce space. The company offers a range of products, including point-of-sale (POS) terminals, prepaid instruments, and digital payment solutions. Pine Labs' customers are merchants, retailers, and consumers.
