Despite the current global challenges, India would be able to reach its aspirational $5 trillion dollar GDP by 2025-26, top officials told a Parliamentary finance panel. They also stated that the Indian economy is performing well, despite the fact that the geopolitical scenario is particularly volatile owing to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
India is on the verge of revolution, and it is eager to take a giant jump to become one of the world’s top three economies. In order to attain the aim of development in its seventh decade of independence, India would have to overcome several hurdles. With this aim in mind, India has already witnessed significant improvements, particularly in the banking industry.
Mehernosh Tata, Managing Director & CEO, Edelweiss Retail Finance Ltd, at a panel discussion at Elets 12th 100Tech Summit.
MSMEs have played a great role in GDP growth, and it’s the MSME sector that employs the maximum number of people in the country. Micro enterprises have a big challenge when you look at traditional ways of lending to them. The gap between micro and small enterprises is filled by the NBFC sector.
The other panellists also talked about the journey and future aspects of the NBFC sector contributing towards the goal of achieving $5 trillion economy.
Amit Sharma, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Satin Housing Finance, said that, “We are a technology-driven company, so the collection and processing of the finance is happening online. And if we talk about digitalisation, I think the personal side of unsecured lending can go for a digital signature, but that part is missing for the mortgage industry.”
“Covid has created a lot of disruption in technology, and there was a reverse migration that took place. So, that disruption made Bharat inclusive, and a lot of companies have started flowing credit there. We, as a housing finance company, engage with the customers and find out what is the deficiency and how we have to rectify that. Digitisation has been a new normal for us, and we have digitalised 75 per cent of our processes”, stated S Aryendra Kumar, Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer, IKF Home Finance Limited, while addressing the audience at the summit.
Rahul Gupta, Chief Executive Officer, Avanti Finance, said, “Around half of India’s population is employed in agri-allied services, and 60-65 per cent of our rural populations are also employed in agri-allied related employment. 86 per cent of the people are smallholder farmers, and 70 percent of them doesn’t get access to any formal financial services. So, unless you haven’t focused on ways of dealing with that problem, the idea of building an inclusive economy will not happen.”
Aditya Damani, Founder & CEO, Credit Fair, said, “Lot of things in fintech will be like old wine and new bottles. So we have to be a credit-driven organisation and not a sales-driven organisation. We have to care about the customer and assessment. The right amount of credit has to be given and we have to make sure that we are not overlending.”
Ajeet Kumar, Chief Operating Officer, Kreditbee, said “The biggest challenge in the format of a credit system is to educate the customer and make them understand that credit can be hassle-free. Our aim is to bring 20 million customers to the formal credit system in the span of three years.”
“Shriram has created a market and financial channel for unbanked areas. Shriram Housing Finance was formed to cater to the housing needs of the affordable segments. Shriram is now focusing on digitalising the entire ecosystem and they are launching a super app, where the customer can have access to all the products offered by the group in a single click”, G S Agarwal, Chief Financial Officer, Shriram Housing Finance Ltd, concluded with his remarks.
