Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has urged the Reserve Bank of India to strengthen India's digital rupee platform. She also pushed the central bank to boost wholesale and retail CBDCs.
Speaking at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai on Friday, September 11, Sitharaman said, "RBI needs to sharpen capability with digital rupee."
The seventh edition of the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2026 was conducted in Mumbai from September 8-11. The theme of GFF 2026 is “Potential to Impact: Agentic AI, Tokenisation, Quantum – Trusted, Connected, Global Systems for Inclusive Finance.”
Reflecting on the theme, the Finance Minister warned about the development of artificial intelligence and said, “Artificial Intelligence a double-edged sword; it helps detect, perpetrate fraud.”
Additionally, Sitharaman lauded India's growth and said the country is experiencing demographic dividend.
Highlighting India's progress, the Finance Minister said, "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, India is experiencing its demographic dividend in real time. What is here before me is a living reality of our demographic dividend.
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.