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India is pitching its expanding digital economy as a new area of opportunity for Canadian investors. Addressing members of the Indian business community in Toronto, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman highlighted the potential for cooperation between Indian and Canadian banks, fintech companies and regulators around UPI and next-generation digital financial infrastructure.
The Finance Minister further said that India’s combination of economic scale, sustained growth, a young population, rising consumption and deepening capital markets makes it an attractive destination for Canadian investors with a long-term investment horizon.
“For Canadian investors with long time horizon, India offers a combination that is difficult to match: scale, sustained growth, a young population, expanding consumption and rapidly deepening capital markets,” FM Sitharaman said.
Her pitch comes as India and Canada seek to deepen economic ties following a reset in bilateral relations, with the two countries looking to expand trade, investment and institutional cooperation.
The commitment from the Government of India is that we want Canadian investors to come and have greater engagement with India.
India is the economy in which people should take interest, because with that kind of population, with that kind of purchasing power, consumption and… pic.twitter.com/v6jTXhJU3D
— Nirmala Sitharaman Office (@nsitharamanoffc) August 26, 2026
Why UPI is emerging as a key opportunity
The Finance Minister placed India’s digital infrastructure at the centre of the investment opportunity, pointing to the country’s ability to use technology to reduce the cost of accessing financial and commercial services. At the heart of that ecosystem is the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
“By transaction volume, UPI is the world’s largest real-time payments system and has become a major platform for financial inclusion, payments efficiency and digital innovation,” the Finance Minister said.
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For Canadian financial institutions, the opportunity could extend beyond simply investing in India’s payments companies.
“There are significant opportunities here for collaboration with Canadian banks, fintech companies and regulators-not only in payments, but in shaping the next generation of digital financial infrastructure,” FM Sitharaman said.
That opens the door to a bigger form of financial cooperation, potentially spanning payments technology, fintech, digital banking, financial infrastructure and regulatory expertise.
From capital flows to digital infrastructure
“Capital markets are only one dimension of a modern financial partnership,” FM Sitharaman said, signalling that the economic relationship could increasingly encompass institutional partnerships and technology-driven financial services. India’s digital public infrastructure has become one of the country’s key economic assets. This reportedly allows financial services to reach consumers at scale while reducing transaction and access costs.
For Canadian banks and fintech companies, participation in this ecosystem could provide exposure to one of the world’s fastest-growing digital financial markets while creating opportunities for technology and institutional collaboration.
Why Canada is important for India
FM Sitharaman also addressed the role of Canada’s financial sector and its large Indian-origin community in strengthening the economic relationship. She described the Indian diaspora in Canada as a “strategic bridge” between the two countries, noting that members of the community occupy positions across Canadian boardrooms, financial markets and pension funds.
This could be particularly relevant for India as it seeks long-term institutional capital.
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Canadian investors include some of the world’s largest pension funds and institutional investment managers, giving the country a potentially important role in financing India’s infrastructure, technology and financial-sector expansion.
India-Canada economic ties enter a new phase
The renewed investment push comes against the backdrop of an effort by India and Canada to reset bilateral relations. The Finance Minister referred to the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian counterpart Mark Carney on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in June 2025, where the two countries agreed to work towards resetting bilateral ties.
The relationship received further momentum during Carney’s visit to India earlier this year, according to Sitharaman.
The two countries formally launched negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and announced a CAD 2.6 billion uranium agreement with Cameco. They also adopted ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ as the overarching framework for the renewed strategic partnership and set a joint ambition to more than double bilateral trade to CAD 70 billion by 2030, the Finance Minister said.
TOPICSECONOMYNirmala SitharamanThis article was first uploaded on August twenty-six, twenty twenty-six, at thirty-two minutes past three in the afternoon. © IE Online Media Services (P) Ltd