India’s digital leap has done more than connect people, it’s now reshaping how they travel, insure, and access healthcare. At the India Mobile Congress 2025, ixigo’s Aloke Bajpai and PB Fintech’s Alok Bansal shared how the country’s next phase of growth lies not in valuations, but in building everyday value for the middle class that drives Bharat’s economy.

Alok Bansal, executive vice chairman of PB Fintech, said India’s rapid digital adoption has quietly rewritten the rulebook for business. “When we started in 2008, the entire protection insurance market - health and term - was worth only ₹100 crore in premium. Today, the new business written every year in these two segments is nearly ₹20,000 crore,” he said. “Which other country gives you that sort of opportunity?”

He credited government-led initiatives like Aadhaar-based eKYC, UPI, DigiLocker, and the Account Aggregator framework for reducing friction and powering scale. “We exist because these digital rails exist. The role played by the government in digital adoption is the reason we are here,” Bansal said, adding that his focus remains on efficiency, not just earnings. “If you do the right thing, profit is the outcome.”

PB Fintech’s next move, he revealed, is to integrate healthcare into its insurance ecosystem. “We’ve bought one hospital and are building two more. The idea is to create an NHS-like model for middle-class India,” said Bansal. “When you buy insurance, you’re buying peace of mind. The experience at the time of claim should reflect that.” The company plans to integrate hospital care with insurance, giving customers transparency over treatment and billing data.

Interestingly, Policybazaar itself is a uniquely Indian innovation. “There is no Policybazaar anywhere else in the world. It exists because India’s digital infrastructure allowed it to exist,” he said. “What we are now trying to do in healthcare will also be something no one else has done.”

For Aloke Bajpai, chairman, managing director and group CEO of ixigo, India’s digital shift is rewriting another story: that of mobility. “Only 4.5% of Indians fly every year, compared to 37% in China and 86% in the US. We had to ask ourselves - are we building for the top few, or are we building an Indian travel company?” he said.

That question changed ixigo’s direction. The company began focusing on train and bus travelers, budget hotels, and religious destinations, segments that define India’s domestic travel market. “About 3 billion domestic trips happen every year, twice the size of our population,” Bajpai said. “Varanasi alone gets 100 million footfalls a year, Ayodhya over 50 million. Yet, nobody serves that market well.”

Bajpai believes India must now build capacity and elevate experiences to attract foreign tourists. “We have fewer five-star rooms than Shanghai. If at the same price I can go to Thailand or Vietnam, why will I choose Goa or Kerala?” he asked.

Both leaders agreed that India’s next growth wave will come from solving for Bharat, by using technology to meet real human needs. As Bajpai put it, “Selling tickets is a byproduct of trust. We want to be the companion who guides, helps, and stays with the traveler every step of the way.”