Rules apply to firms of all sizes: MoS IT on RBI move on Paytm PB

Says have received two proposals for semiconductor fab units, entailing $22 bn investment

Rules and the law of the land are applicable to companies of all sizes, and entrepreneurs cannot live in denial of it, said Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday. 

“One cannot live in denial of the reality that there are rules and laws that are applicable. It applies to big companies, small companies, startups, legacy (companies), or anything,” he said while responding to a query on the recent RBI action on Paytm Payments Bank, at the Mumbai Tech Week 2024.

Chandrasekhar, minister of state for electronics and IT, skill development and entrepreneurship, and Jal Shakti, explained that the momentum of entrepreneurship and innovation in sectors, such as fintech, can outpace regulation, but it is the responsibility of the financial regulator to identify any instance of harm in the ecosystem.

 

“The pace of the momentum of entrepreneurship or innovation can be beyond what the regulator has allowed them to do at a particular time. Without linking this to Paytm, a financial regulator could always look at harm such as money laundering, Know Your Customer (KYC), the need to identify the nature of transaction,” he said.

Chandrasekhar explained that innovators in the country have always been ahead of the curve, and it is the role of the government to keep up with the pace of innovation.

“The reality is that the innovation economy or innovators are always ahead of the curve. This government, in particular, because of our consultative approach, is trying to keep pace with it and our regulatory frameworks are already beginning to upgrade,” Chandrasekhar said. On the semiconductor fabrication front, he said India has received two proposals representing an investment of $22 billion.

“The two fab proposals that have been received by India and represent an investment of $22 billion will be one from Tata and one from Tower (Semiconductor), which is a big semiconductor company in Israel, the US and Mexico,” he explained.

Chandrasekhar further noted that the country has gone from having no design startup to over 80 chip design startups.