India Rises as Fastest-Growing Major Economy: Sitharaman Seeks Canadian Investment

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman highlighted India's rapid growth and transformation during a speech in Toronto, emphasizing its appeal to Canadian investors. She noted that India is the fastest-growing major economy globally, offering a combination of scale, sustained growth, a young population, expanding consumption, and rapidly deepening capital markets.

Sitharaman attributed this transformation to structural changes driven by rapid urbanization, a growing middle class, and world-class digital infrastructure. This has created new opportunities across various sectors, with India's digital ecosystem playing a crucial role in transforming access to financial and commercial services.

The finance minister highlighted the significance of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which is the world's largest real-time payments system by transaction volume. She emphasized that there are substantial opportunities for collaboration between Canadian banks, fintech companies, and regulators in shaping the next generation of digital financial infrastructure.