Digital and cashless transactions would boost GDP growth of the country in a meaningful transition for Indian economy, said Arjun Ram Meghwal, Hon'ble Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Government of India, while addressing a conference on 'Digital & Cashless Economy: A new paradigm for NextGen Businesses' organised by Confederation of Indian Industry in New Delhi.

He said India was on the verge of a transition from a largely cash economy to a less cash and a more digital economy. He said the move to demonetize was in accordance with the ''general will of the citizens of India towards a corruption-free society''.

Meghwal said, ''Promotion of a digital economy has had a transformative impact and the people of India have supported the initiative. For the common man, a shift to digital payments has generated significant benefits. Migration to Digital Payments is the way forward towards a cashless economy. The Government of India has conducted various initiatives to spread awareness about the move. The Government of India was empowering people in non-urban and rural areas to enable them to adopt technology. Embracing digital and cashless economy was the collective responsibility of the Government, citizens as well as the corporate sector.''

Hon'ble Minister also released a CII-Deloitte paper on ‘Demonetization for Merchants -The Promise, Potential and Practical' at the conference.

In his opening remarks, Umang Das, Conference Chairman and Chairman, CII National Sub-Committee on Telecom Infrastructure, said, ''Demonetisation is the biggest positive step undertaken for the betterment of the country. With the Government’s flagship ‘Digital India Programme’, adoption of digital payments is playing a crucial role in realizing the vision of a digitally-empowered economy. The vision also aims to change life in rural India by making every citizen a ‘Netizen’ who will be fully-empowered citizens.''