Indian tech success story is a ray of hope for Global South: Modi

Addressing the 6th edition of the Global Fintech Festival 2025 at the Jio Convention Centre at Bandra Kurla Complex on Thursday, Modi said that the technology for digital transactions developed by India had been accepted by more than 25 countries

MUMBAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that India had shown that technology was not just limited to facilities but was a “resource of equality”. Declaring that digital payments had become “routine” in the country, and of every 100 real-time digital transactions happening around the world, 50 were from India, he said that the total number of UPI transactions had touched 20 billion or more than ₹25 lakh crore every month.

**EDS: HANDOUT PHOTO MADE AVAILABLE FROM PIB ON SUNDAY, JULY 10, 2022** New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the ‘Natural Farming Conclave’ organised at Surat, Gujarat, through video conferencing, in New Delhi. (PTI Photo)(PTI07_10_2022_000127B) (PTI)

Addressing the 6th edition of the Global Fintech Festival 2025 at the Jio Convention Centre at Bandra Kurla Complex on Thursday, Modi said that the technology for digital transactions developed by India had been accepted by more than 25 countries. He also invited other countries to forge partnerships in the fintech sector. “From this platform, I am inviting everyone, along with the United Kingdom, to have a partnership with us,” he announced. “I am inviting every investor to grow with the growth of India. We want to create a fintech world where technology will make both people and the planet prosperous. The target of innovation should not be limited to growth but goodness as well, where finance does not mean only numbers but human progress.”

“India has shown that technology is not just limited to facilities but also the resource of equality,” he said amid applause. “This inclusive approach has transformed the banking system… We have digital technology as a medium for empowerment.” Modi added that digital payment had become routine in India and attributed its success to the JAM trinity, a framework of Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, and Mobile.

The PM said that the Indian digital space had become a topic of discussion everywhere in the world because of Unified Payment Interface (UPI), Aadhaar-Enabled Payment System (AePS) and Bharat Bill Payment System (BPSS), Bharat QR, DigiLocker, Digi Yatra and Government e marketplace (GeM). “These have become the spine of India’s digital economy. I am happy that India’s tech is giving birth to a new and open ecosystem,” he remarked.

The prime minister also stated that the Indian tech success story was “a ray of hope” for the Global South or economically disadvantaged countries. “With our digital innovation, we want to increase digital cooperation and digital partnership, and hence we are sharing both our experience and open source platform for the global public good,” he said. He added that the Modular Open Source Identity Platform (MOSIP) developed in the country was a fine example of this, as more than 25 countries had accepted it to develop their sovereign digital identity.

Modi also asserted that India was not sharing its digital technology as “aid”. “Along with sharing technology, we are also helping other countries develop their own technology, and this is not digital aid as many would like to call it,” he said with a smile without naming US president Donald Trump. He then added, “Samajhdaar to ishara kaafi hai (A hint is enough for the wise). This is not an aid but digital empowerment.”

The PM also commented on India’s partnership with the UK, saying that it had shown a way to the world which was a win-win situation for both countries. “Our partnership in AI and Fintech share the same expression,” he said, adding that the UK-India Fintech Corridor would create more opportunities for the new startups to prosper. “It will lead to the opening of new ways of cooperation between the London Stock Exchange and GIFT City. The financial integration between the two countries will help our companies get more benefits from the free trade agreement,” he said in the presence of UK PM Keir Starmer, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra and Kris Gopalkrishnan, chairman, Global Fintech Festival.