UPI targets one billion transactions daily in next 5 years: Nirmala Sitharaman
Author: BI Bureau
New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that technology adoption in India is very high not only at major cities but Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and rural areas. “Digital adoption by Indian citizens is amazing,” she added, while addressing the session ‘Future of Financing’ at FICCI LEADS-2022 here recently.
Sitharaman said that the future of finance is going to be Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) and there is a sense of urgency with which we need to plan. She also stated that the role of artificial intelligence is going to be critical in the Fintech sector. “I see a big role for AI in the Fintech sector in detection of fraud, crime and accessing the risks. We will have to ensure personal data security, national and cyber security in our planning,” she added.
The Finance Minister stated that India is working on a system where only a single KYC is needed which can be used across different spheres. Speaking on the success of UPI, she said that in July, UPI processed 6.28 billion transactions worth Rs 10.62 trillion, which is 7 per cent higher than June. “UPI target is to cross one billion transactions per day in the next 5 years,” she noted.
Sanjiv Mehta, President, FICCI and CEO and MD, Hindustan Unilever Limited, said that venture capitalists are convinced that ESG factors play an important role in a company's valuation. “Fintech is fostering financial inclusion,” he added. Naina Lal Kidwai, Chairman, Rothschild and Co India and Senior Advisor, Advent Private Equity, reinstated the need for global collaboration and partnership in building a future for finance.
Richard Abel, Managing Director, UK Climate Investments, Macquarie Group, highlighted the importance of gender diversity, equity, and inclusion in the Future of Finance. Dr Ruth P Goodwin-Groen, Founder and Managing Director, UN-based Better Than Cash Alliance, USA, stated that there is a huge opportunity in India for creating a future that works for everybody. /BI/
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The exports of agricultural commodities from March to June 2020 shot up by 23.24 percent on-year to Rs 25,552.7 crores.
As the economy comes to a standstill amid the coronavirus-led lockdown, India’s agriculture sector has taken the baton of economic growth in its hands. The exports of agricultural commodities from March to June 2020 shot up by 23.24 percent on-year to Rs 25,552.7 crores, according to the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. The government said that self-reliant agriculture is critical for the goal of an Atmanirbhar Bharat and for this, agricultural export is extremely important as besides earning foreign exchange for the country, the exports help farmers, producers, and exporters to take advantage of the wider international market and increase their income.
The surge in exports has also resulted in increased production in the farm sector by increasing coverage area and productivity. The share of India’s agricultural exports and imports in the world agriculture trade in 2017 was 2.27 percent and 1.90 percent, respectively. Even during the difficult time of pandemic lockdown, India took care not to disturb the world food supply chain and continued to export, the government said.
Ministry of Agriculture has prepared a comprehensive action plan for the promotion of Agri trade; the twofold approach focuses on boosting Agri Export with emphasis on value addition and action plan for Import Substitution. Recently, the Agriculture sector has witnessed a series of reforms, giving more choices to the farmers to sell their produce at competitive rates.
To mention a few, the Export strategy focuses on the export promotion of fast-evolving niche markets of Wellness food/ Health-conscious food/nutraceuticals, Development of “Brand India” in campaign mode to help penetration into new foreign markets and of new products which automatically translates into higher value realization, Gulf countries have been identified as focus destination to increase the market share which is a strong market for India though presently India caters to only 10-12% share of their total imports. A product-market matrix has been made containing a list of products of strength that could be expanded in new geographies and a list of known markets which can be introduced with newer products.
At the behest of the Department of Agricultural Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, product-specific Export Promotion Forums have been created to lead Agri exports to new heights. Each Export Promotion Forum shall be having exporters of the related commodity as its members along with official members representing concerned Ministries/Departments of the Central and State Governments. Chairman APEDA shall be the chairman of each of these forums. The forums will meet at least once every two months, to discuss recommendations on issues pertaining to the export.
The recommendations of the forum will be placed in the product committee / Authority of APEDA. The Forum will keep in close contact with the concerned organization of the Ministry of Agriculture such as MIDH, Extension, NPPO, etc., DGFT, Ministry of Civil Aviation, MoFPI, etc. to further the interest of agricultural export.
