"View Maharashtra as a Laboratory, Not Just a Market": CM Devendra...

By GT24x7 Reporter · 9 September 2026 · GlobalToday24x7

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis addressed global industry delegates, financial innovators, and investors on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, at the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) underway in Mumbai. In his address, Fadnavis called upon technology leaders and financial institutions to engage with Maharashtra not merely as a high-density consumer marketplace, but as a dynamic live laboratory for next-generation technological experimentation. He noted that the horizon of the global financial architecture is undergoing a decisive geographic shift, expanding beyond established western capitals like New York and London to anchor itself firmly across India, with Mumbai leading this transformation as the country's undisputed financial nerve center.

Emphasizing the technological vectors reshaping the financial landscape, the Chief Minister underlined that Artificial Intelligence (AI), asset tokenization, and quantum computing form the critical pillars of modern economic governance. He remarked that institutional focus must prioritize deploying these disruptive capabilities to generate tangible, positive outcomes in the day-to-day lives of common citizens, making public service delivery seamless, reliable, and accessible.

Dematerialization of Finance and Payment Democratization

Reflecting on India's institutional strides over the preceding decade under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Fadnavis noted that the nation has orchestrated an unprecedented digital transformation across the financial transaction ecosystem:

* Democratization via UPI: The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) stands as a premier global benchmark of open digital public infrastructure, demonstrating how payments have been decentralized to reach citizens across socio-economic strata. * Expanding Digital Inclusion: Moving beyond payments, future institutional roadmaps must systematically decentralize institutional credit, wealth creation, equity ownership, and entrepreneurship, ensuring these mechanisms are no longer concentrated within exclusive financial conglomerates. * Public-Centric Architecture: Ensuring that emerging technologies serve broader socio-economic development while establishing secure, fraud-resistant frameworks for consumer safety.

The 'DELTA Act' and Blockchain Land Tokenization

In a major policy announcement aimed at steering Maharashtra toward its targeted $1 trillion state economy by 2030, Chief Minister Fadnavis outlined the operational framework of the proposed "The Maharashtra Digitization and Exchange of Land Token Asset Act" (DELTA Act):

* Blockchain Asset Tokenization: The legislation is designed to tokenize real estate, land parcels, and physical infrastructure assets across the state using decentralized blockchain technology, unlocking illiquid capital. * Exchange Platform on Equity Model: The state government plans to establish an institutional trading platform modeled on traditional stock exchanges, enabling transparent, fractionated, and liquid digital transactions of land value. * First-Mover State Advantage: Upon formal enactment, Maharashtra will become the first state in India to implement a comprehensive statutory policy for real estate asset tokenization, substantially accelerating property clearance transparency, minimizing litigation, and preventing registration fraud.

Building an Integrated Tech Ecosystem

Fadnavis asserted that for Maharashtra, fintech is not an isolated vertical, but a comprehensive synthesis of finance, computing infrastructure, and applied artificial intelligence. The state administration has accelerated the establishment of world-class data centers, Global Capability Centers (GCCs), specialized startup incubation nodes, and industry-partnered academic institutions to build a future-ready talent pool.

Concluding his address, the Chief Minister emphasized that regulatory institutions, innovators, and investors must collaborate to ensure emerging frontier technologies yield inclus...