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Sitharaman Says Young India Is Building Tomorrow’s Enterprises
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India’s young people are helping build the country’s future.
She said they are creating businesses, developing technology and supporting economic growth.
She believes India’s large young population is already proving its value.
She pointed to UPI and other digital systems as examples of India’s progress.
She also mentioned India’s economic growth and space exploration.
However, she warned that artificial intelligence and cyberattacks can create serious dangers.
These dangers could affect societies, elections and even national systems.
She said regulators should protect people while still allowing new technology to grow.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India’s young population is already driving innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth.
She said young Indians are building enterprises and writing technology’s future despite doubts about the country’s demographic dividend.
Sitharaman cited digital public infrastructure, UPI transactions, economic growth and space exploration as examples of India’s progress.
About 8,000 organisations participated in the Global Fintech Festival, including technology, financial and fintech firms.
She called for soft-touch regulation to address artificial intelligence, cyber and electoral risks without limiting fintech innovation.
- Who
- Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, young Indians, fintech companies and other participants.
- What
- Sitharaman praised India’s youth-driven innovation and called for balanced, soft-touch regulation of fintech and emerging technologies.
- Where
- Mumbai, India.
- When
- Friday, during the Global Fintech Festival 2026.
- Why
- She said India’s young population is driving growth, while artificial intelligence, cyber threats and other technologies require safeguards that do not suppress innovation.
Key facts
- Event
- Global Fintech Festival 2026
- Location
- Mumbai
- Participating organisations
- Around 8,000
- Participant composition
- Technology-related entities accounted for 43%, financial institutions 25%, fintech firms 20% and support services 12%.
- Regulatory approach
- Sitharaman advocated soft-touch regulation that protects innovation while addressing risks.
- Recognized organization
- The Reserve Bank of India recognized the Unified FinTech Forum as a self-regulatory organisation under the SRO-FT framework.
- Risks identified
- Artificial intelligence, large language models, cyber threats and attacks by rogue operators or agentic groups.
Quotes
Nirmala Sitharaman
India’s Union Finance Minister speaking at the Global Fintech Festival 2026
“We are seeing it translate into monumental strides from building the world’s most powerful digital public infrastructure with UPI processing billions of transactions, to standing tall as the fastest-growing major economy and breaking frontiers in space exploration”
thehansindia.com
Sources
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