PM Modi hails UPI at Global Fintech Fest 2026 in Mumbai, pitches non-payment transactions as fintech's next chapter

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2026 in Mumbai and addressed the gathering, hailing India's growth performance, its improved sovereign rating and the reach of the Unified Payments Interface.

Speaking about India's economic performance against a difficult global backdrop, the Prime Minister said, "All of you are well aware of the current global situation. The world is passing through a phase of conflicts and uncertainty. There is pressure on energy and commodity supply chains. There is tension regarding trade. This situation has persisted for months now. The April-June quarter has been the most challenging. Even then, when India grows by 7.8 per cent, the world sees a fresh hope."

Also read: India preparing rollout of agentic payments on UPI


Turning to India's sovereign rating, Modi said, "Our sovereign ratings are another example of increasing trust in India. Recently, Japan's credit rating agency upgraded India's sovereign ratings to A category. Very few people know that this has come after three decades, after 30 years."

"This shows that the world is so assured of India's growth momentum, our macroeconomic stability and structural reforms in the past few years. India's reform express will go ahead even faster," he said.

On the fintech sector, the Prime Minister said, "India's fintech story has been amazing. A big champion of this is UPI. This is such a major transformation that whenever fintech would be discussed, it would be incomplete without UPI."

He noted that UPI completed 10 years on 25 August. "Ten years ago, when I used to say that your bank would be at your fingertips, a few people used to find it impossible. I am talking about well-informed people; recall their faces," he said.

PM added, "India's UPI now live in 11 countries; our next aim should be to connect with other countries' payment systems."

"Right about the time we sat in this venue, around 50,000 UPI transactions must've happened," he added.

Calling UPI a civilisational story, Modi stressed the need for India to expand its UPI footprint to countries it does business with. He cited the example of the India-Singapore UPI network, saying transactions between the two countries had become as easy as making UPI payments between two Indian cities. He said remittances using UPI could help save on transaction costs and time.

Looking ahead, the Prime Minister said non-payment transactions should be the next chapter for India's fintech sector.

The Prime Minister said his confidence in the Viksit Bharat goal grows stronger with every visit to the fintech gathering. "Every time I come here, I feel more energised, witness more youth and see expanding opportunities. I see the realm of possibilities expanding. It feels as though the burden on risk-taking capacity is easing, and dreams are becoming possible," he said.

Also read: Festive surge drives UPI near record ₹29.8 lakh crore milestone across 24.5 billion transactions

Modi also referred to the festive season in the city. "Amid this energy of fintech, Mumbai's cultural energy is also at its peak these days. In a few days, Ganeshotsav will begin in Maharashtra as well as across the country. Here, Lord Ganesha is remembered before every auspicious occasion. I bow to Ganpati Bappa and extend my best wishes to all of you for Global Fintech Fest 2026," he said.

The theme of this year's edition is "Potential to Impact: Agentic AI, Tokenisation, Quantum — Trusted, Connected, Global Systems for Inclusive Finance."

The Mumbai engagement was the second leg of the Prime Minister's day-long visit to Gujarat and Maharashtra. Earlier in the day, he laid the foundation stones for, inaugurated and dedicated to the nation development projects worth more than ₹35,000 crore in Vadodara, and addressed a gathering there.