Prime Minister Modi pointed out that steps had been taken to free the country from the culture of non-transparent credit

Noting that the Union Budget had laid out a clear roadmap to expand the participation of the private sector and strengthen public sector institutions in the financial sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the government's top priority was to ensure that the depositor as well as investor experienced "Trust and Transparency".

The old ways and old systems of banking and non-banking sectors were being changed, he said while addressing a webinar on effective implementation of Budget provisions regarding Financial Services through video conference.

Prime Minister Modi pointed out that steps had been taken to free the country from the culture of non-transparent credit. Instead of brushing the NPAs under the carpet, it was now mandatory to report even one-day NPA, he said.

He, however, assured the audience that the government understood the uncertainties of business and recognized that every business decision was not underlined by bad intentions. It was the responsibility of the government to stand by business decisions taken with clear conscience, he said, referring to mechanisms like the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

Addressing the webinar, he lauded the excellent work of Fintech Startups in creating new and better financial products for new startups and their exploration of every possibility in this sector.

Explaining how better use of technology and creation of new systems had played a very big role in financial inclusion, he noted that nearly 130 crore people had Aadhar Card and more than 41 crore countrymen have Jan Dhan accounts.

About 55% of these Jan Dhan accounts belong to women and about one-and-a-half lakh crore rupees had been deposited in them.

The Prime Minister pointed out that under the Mudra scheme, loans worth about Rs. 15 lakh crore have reached the small entrepreneurs; about 70 percent of these were women and more than 50 percent were Dalit, deprived, tribal and backward class entrepreneurs.

About 11 crore farmer families had received over Rs 1 lakh 15 thousand crore directly in their accounts under PM Kisan Svanidhi Scheme, PM Modi said.

Speaking about the PM Svanidhi for street vendors, he said this was the first financial inclusion initiative for this section and about 15 lakh vendors had been given credit worth Rs 10 thousand crore.

According to the Prime Minister, Kisan Credit Cards were freeing small farmers, animal husbandry, and fishermen from the clutches of informal lending. The Prime Minister asked the financial sector to create innovative financial products for this section.

With the Fintech market in India estimated to over 6 trillion in the next five years, a world class financial hub is being built in IFSC GIFT City, in Gujarat, he said. He added that reforms had been carried out to strengthen the banking sector and this would continue.