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Linking businesses with an account aggregator (AA) network—a financial data sharing platform—will help small entrepreneurs get easy access to credit and create millions of jobs, Infosys Technologies Co-founder and Chairman Nandan Nilekani said on Tuesday.

He made the remarks during a session at the ‘GSV + Emeritus India Summit’ event in Gurugram.

In the Budget for FY24, the government said that the GST system could join the account aggregator network, which means that every company in the GST system can ask for its data back, including their tax filings and invoices, Nilekani said.

“This data will be authentic. India has about 11-12 million businesses registered in the GST system. They can give the data to a lender for loans, etc… what all this will do, it will essentially reduce friction to credit for small businesses, and if millions of small businesses get access to credit, that gives them the capital to build their companies, then they will create jobs,” he said.

Each of the businesses would create one to two jobs, which will lead to 20-30 million job opportunities in the country, Nilekani said.

An account aggregator (AA) network is an RBI-regulated entity (with an NBFC-AA licence) that helps an individual securely and digitally access and share information from one financial institution they have an account with to any other regulated financial institution in the AA network.

He further said that skilling is one area that needs attention as the person with better skills is going to get the jobs created in future.

Ashwin Damera, Co-founder and CEO of Emeritus, one of the organisers of the event, said that technology can play a vital role in taking education to the masses.

“India’s journey towards a $5 trillion economy will require over 600 million people under the age of 25 years to be equipped with future-ready skills. Technology will play a vital role in taking education to the masses across the country. Emeritus aims to assist universities in India in shaping the education landscape,” he said.