Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation for projects worth Rs 29,396 crore during his maiden visit to Maharashtra after the recent Lok Sabha election. In this visit, the PM announced his vision statement to make Mumbai, the world’s capital in financial technology while revamping Maharashtra to a leading state in terms of tourism.
While this announcement spurred public enthusiasm, stakeholders in the fintech ecosystem have a lot to say. There are many who are drawing comparisons between Bengaluru, which is for long known as India’s Silicon Valley and a start-up hub.
Vishal Sharma, Co-founder & CEO at AdvaRisk, a fintech start-up backed by ICICI and NABARD also believes that Mumbai is undeniably India’s financial capital and also now a fintech capital to some extent as well. He further believes that PM Modi’s ambition to make the city the fintech capital of the world can significantly boost fintech start-ups. However, this will come with its own set of challenges, he added. Furthermore Raja Debnath, Managing Director at Veefin Solutions Ltd said that the goal of establishing Mumbai as the global fintech capital is in line with the boost the sector needed.
He added, “With regulatory bodies and financial markets based in Mumbai, building a robust fintech ecosystem is a natural progression. The launch of multiple investment projects for the city will give Mumbai a head start in attracting both established businesses and start-ups within the fintech sector.”
And as per Invest India, the country is amongst the fastest growing fintech markets at the global front with a market size of staggering USD 584 billion in 2022. It is further expected to reach USD 1.5 trillion by 2025. In this context, Mumbai is expected to play a pivotal role in its growth and would be leading the Indian Fintech revolution. Now, fintech founders say a “robust infrastructure” is still lacking even when the city holds so much prominence in India and worldwide.
Mohit Bedi, Co-founder and Chief Business Officer of Bengaluru-based Kiwi has also opened an office in Mumbai recently; highlighting the fact that fintechs need to interact with the RBI, NPCI, banks, and aggregators in Mumbai. Having said that, office space and tech workforce are pricier in Mumbai than Bengaluru. A workstation in Bengaluru with the likes of WeWork is said to cost around INR 8,000-10,000 monthly. And if we look at Mumbai's BKC, it costs INR 30,000-35,000.
Additionally, tech professionals prefer Bengaluru due to its local tech giants and multinational facilities. To meet the technological demands of the fintech sector and create a confident investment environment, Mumbai must develop robust infrastructure. Beyond these projects, establishing a concrete digital infrastructure, modernizing the power grid, and developing robust data centers, while nurturing a culture of innovation, can help Mumbai solidify its position as a premier fintech hub, globally.
“The practices which can help Mumbai shine in the realm of fintech is by incentivising investments and promoting Mumbai as a talent hub”, stated Raj N, Founder of Zaggle, a B2B SaaS Fintech listed player. Furthermore, he added that partnerships and innovation programs will drive collaboration. And as per Yashoraj Tyagi, CEO of CASHe, there are several challenges that come forth to ensure a strong digital and physical infrastructure. He mentions dealing with an array of complex regulations, attracting top tech and finance talent, securing start-up investments, ensuring strong digital and physical infrastructure, and managing cybersecurity threats are key for development.
The ecosystem stakeholders believe that Mumbai has potential to become a leading fintech hub within 5-10 years If the key challenges are solved.
