The Union Minister of Communications, Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia, has called for building an inclusive and trustworthy digital financial system at the Global Fintech Festival 2026 in Mumbai. Speaking at the event, he emphasized that financial technology must prioritize accessibility and security alongside innovation. The minister outlined India’s progress in digital infrastructure and its role in shaping the future of fintech globally.
Key Developments and Numbers
India’s digital connectivity has expanded dramatically over the past decade. Internet access has grown from 25 crore users to 100 crore users, while broadband access has jumped from 6 crore to 103 crore connections, representing a 16-fold increase. The 5G network, rolled out in 2022, now reaches 99.9% of districts and covers 85% of the population across 26 months, supported by over 5 lakh base stations. Data costs have fallen to approximately 10 cents per gigabyte, making India the world’s cheapest data market.
The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has emerged as a flagship platform, processing around 24,162 crore transactions in financial year 2025-26, valued at approximately 314 lakh crore rupees. UPI now connects more than 740 banks and handles 84% of all domestic digital transactions. Globally, India accounts for nearly 49% of real-time digital payment volumes.
On digital identity and financial inclusion, around 60 crore Jan Dhan accounts have been opened, and DigiLocker now stores 9 billion documents. The government’s Digital Bharat Nidhi initiative is establishing around 22,000 towers across 34,000 villages currently without telecom connectivity. On security, the government’s ASTR tool has disconnected more than 88 lakh suspicious mobile connections through the Sanchar Saathi initiative.
What This Means For You
Digital financial services are becoming more accessible to Indians across villages and smaller towns as connectivity expands. Your smartphone can now function as a bank branch, enabling you to access credit, investments and payments without visiting a physical bank. However, as financial systems become more automated and intelligence-driven, the government is strengthening fraud prevention measures to protect your accounts and personal data before suspicious transactions occur rather than after.