‘Fintech Industry Plays Critical Role In Advancing Financial Inclusion’: Finance Secretary Nagaraju Maddirala On CII Platform

Fintech plays a pivotal role in advancing financial inclusion by extending essential financial services to underserved and unserved regions, thereby contributing significantly to India’s growth narrative. 

With the country’s digital payments ecosystem is rapidly maturing, its influence has begun to extend beyond national borders, reaching into the Global South. This perspective was shared by Nagaraju Maddirala, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, during the Inaugural Session of the third Financial Inclusion and Fintech Summit, organized today by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) today.

During his inaugural address, Shri Nagaraju Maddirala emphasized the critical role of fintechs in advancing financial inclusion and consumer protection. He urged fintech companies to leverage their strengths and innovation by not only extending financial services to the masses but also to develop robust solutions against fraud, hacking, and other cyber threats—making greater use of emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Shri Nagaraju reaffirmed the Government of India’s strong commitment to financial inclusion and the democratization of credit access. He highlighted the government’s sustained efforts in fostering a supportive ecosystem for fintech innovation, underpinned by a strong digital infrastructure and transformative welfare schemes. Notable among these are the Jan Dhan Yojana and Jan Suraksha Schemes, including the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Swanidhi Yojana and the Atal Pension Yojana, which have significantly expanded the reach of formal financial services.

He also noted that a substantial portion of these financial services and loans have been accessed by women, thereby contributing to women’s empowerment and inclusive economic growth.

In his special address, Shri Shaji KV, Chairman of NABARD, emphasized that India’s journey toward Viksit Bharat can gain momentum only when the masses—particularly the rural population—become active stakeholders in the nation’s growth story. He pointed out that the rising aspirations within rural communities can be effectively addressed through greater efficiency in financial operations, enabled by fintech innovations.

Shaji highlighted the need for disruptive innovation in the sector and called for focused efforts to address challenges such as interoperability and KYC norms with economic activities. He underscored the transformative potential of digital public infrastructure, especially in sectors like agritech, fisheries tech, and cooperative tech, which can play a crucial role in enhancing per capita rural incomes through scalable digital applications.

He also mentioned the planned integration of all Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) onto a common digital infrastructure and noted that NABARD is actively working on digitizing agricultural value chains to bridge the rural–urban divide. Additionally, he stressed the importance of women’s empowerment through fintech-driven financial access and inclusion.
Prashant Kumar. Chair, CII National Committee on Fintech, and Managing Director and CEO, YES BANK stated that as India advances towards Viksit Bharat, inclusive economic growth, particularly for marginalised communities, has remained the central focus and has led to measurable progress in areas such as poverty reduction, education, healthcare and infrastructure development.

Sameer Nigam, Co-Chair of the CII National Committee on Fintech and Founder & CEO of PhonePe Pvt. Ltd., highlighted several key issues in his address. He emphasized the need for technology to effectively reach end customers, shift in user interaction from audio to text-based communication, need for fintech applications that can intelligently “matchmake” customer profiles with the most suitable financial products, etc.

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