New Delhi [India], September 10 (ANI): Union Minister for Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday called for an inclusive and trusted digital financial ecosystem, stating that finance must become inclusive before it becomes intelligent.
Addressing the Global Fintech Festival 2026, Scindia said telecom networks, which act as an "invisible highway", form the foundation on which fintech evolves. He said connectivity, along with compute and trust, forms the new digital trinity powering the next phase of digital finance.
Highlighting India's digital transformation, Scindia said that around 25 crore people had access to the internet a decade ago, while the number has now increased to nearly 100 crore. He added that broadband access has grown from around 6 crore to 103 crore, reflecting significant growth over the past decade.
He said technology must become ubiquitous across India and the world, adding that smartphones have transformed into bank branches by enabling citizens to access credit and investment services.
Scindia said nearly 6.5 lakh villages have become participants in the digital economy and every connected village can become part of the global fintech ecosystem.
Speaking about India's 5G expansion, the Union Minister said that since the launch of 5G in 2022, the country has achieved coverage across 99.9 per cent of districts, covering nearly 85 per cent of the population within 26 months. The rollout has been supported by more than 5 lakh 5G base stations, he said.
Scindia highlighted the growth of Unified Payments Interface (UPI), saying it has expanded from around 90,000 transactions in its first month to more than 740 banks currently. He said UPI processed around 24,162 crore transactions in FY 2025-26, valued at approximately Rs 314 lakh crore.
He said 84 per cent of domestic digital transactions take place on UPI, while India accounts for around 49 per cent of the world's real-time digital payment volumes.
The Minister credited India's Digital Public Infrastructure for enabling technology-driven growth and said the success of UPI reflects the vision of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam". He added that UPI technology is being taken to nine countries at no cost and discussions are underway to expand it to 20 more countries.
Scindia said the architecture of digital finance rests on networks, trust and interoperable platforms connecting institutions. He outlined three principles for scaling digital finance — innovation through open infrastructure, inclusion through affordable infrastructure and trust through secure infrastructure.
Highlighting the role of Jan Dhan accounts and DigiLocker, Scindia said nearly 60 crore Jan Dhan accounts and 9 billion documents on DigiLocker have reduced the gap between citizens and access to financial services.
"The smartphone is the bank branch," he said, adding that smartphones can take fintech services to every citizen.
Scindia further said fintech connectivity has reached almost every village in the North Eastern Region and that through Digital Bharat Nidhi, around 22,000 towers are being established across 34,000 villages without telecom connectivity to achieve full saturation.
He said the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and digital infrastructure can enable personalised financial advice, credit services and increasingly autonomous financial systems.
However, Scindia cautioned that greater intelligence comes with greater responsibility and stressed the need for strong safeguards to protect citizens and their financial security.
He highlighted initiatives such as Sanchar Saathi and the AI-powered tool ASTR, which he said has helped disconnect more than 88 lakh suspicious mobile connections.
The Minister also spoke about the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator, saying it helps identify suspicious transactions and prevent fraudulent payments before money leaves citizens' accounts.
Calling for a shift from reactive security to predictive trust, Scindia proposed the creation of a Trust Grid for finance by bringing together telecom, digital identity, UPI and financial systems.
He said if Digital India democratised access, "Intelligent India must democratise intelligence", adding that AI should not remain limited to corporates and banks but should become a tool available to every citizen.
Scindia also highlighted India's indigenous 4G telecom stack and said the country has started work on 5G while its 6G mission aims to contribute 10 per cent of global 6G patents.
Concluding his address, Scindia said India's ambition should be to move from a connected India to intelligent digital finance and then to empowered finance, while building trusted infrastructure for the future. (ANI)
From digital India to intelligent India: Jyotiraditya Scindia outlines vision for trusted digital finance
