Tech must not be weaponised to thwart global progress: FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister asks fintechs to focus on trust, safety and financial inclusion

Technology “must not be weaponised” by those who have obtained proprietary rights in certain sectors, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday amid recent actions by two international companies creating a controversy in the country.

 

Digital Public Infrastructure (Aadhaar, Unified Payments Interface, and account aggregators) must serve the public good, she said at the Global Fintech Fest 2025 in Mumbai. Fintechs should continue to focus on financial performance and regulatory compliance as the industry grows.

 

“It is important to constantly remind ourselves that technology cannot be in that sense truly mastered but having obtained certain proprietary rights over some parts of it, we should refrain from weaponising it,” she said. “Constantly, globally, we see technology advancements sometimes being turned inward that global progress itself gets questioned because of weaponising it.”

 

Nayara Energy, the Russian-backed Indian refiner, sued Microsoft in July after it abruptly suspended critical software services. In September, the refiner moved court against SAP for suspending software services. SAP India told the court that it cannot provide the services without its parent firm’s support.

 

Sitharaman asked fintechs to focus on revenue growth, innovative products, profitability, risk and compliance capabilities. She explained that mechanisms such as the Reserve Bank of India’s sandbox and the self-regulatory organisation framework encourage responsible innovation in a supervised setting.

 

“As millions of citizens join the formal financial system, the focus must be to expand beyond innovation towards trust, safety and inclusion. Speed and scale must walk hand-in-hand with safety. Regulations too must evolve, ensuring that the fintech revolution remains secure, responsible and sustainable for the long run.”

 

Companies should solve challenges such as credit taxes for MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises), financial inclusion for women and gig workers and the development of innovative green financing and sustainability linked products, that can empower the country’s transition to a low carbon economy

 

Sitharaman launched the Foreign Currency Settlement System (FCSS) to speed up foreign currency transactions via IFSCA (International Financial Services Centres Authority) via GIFT City.

 

“The FCSS will be a payment system within the IFSCA designed for settling transactions in foreign currency on a real-time or near real-time basis. With the operationalization of the FCSS, GIFT-IFSCA will now join a select list of financial centers that include Hong Kong, Tokyo, Manila and so on, that have the infrastructure to settle foreign currency transactions locally,” she said.