By Nearly nine years ago, Paytm Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma had remarked, “We are as Indian as Maruti,” in an interview with PTI responding to queries around the company’s ownership structure at the time. That statement, once seen as symbolic, now reflects the reality, one where Paytm stands as a truly Indian company, both in spirit and shareholding.
Taking this statement further, a person aware of the contours of the deal said, ”Paytm is now as Indian as Tata.”
This transformation became official with the recent exit of Antfin (Netherlands) Holding BV, which sold its residual 5.84% stake in Paytm for approximately ₹3,800 crore through a block deal. With this, Chinese ownership in the company has been reduced to zero, marking a significant shift in its shareholding pattern.
In 2016, Vijay Shekhar Sharma reaffirmed Paytm’s deep-rooted commitment to India’s growth story, highlighting the company’s Indian ethos and its alignment with national priorities. At a time when the startup ecosystem was witnessing robust global interest and strategic investments, Sharma underscored Paytm’s steadfast adherence to local regulations, its India-first approach to innovation, and its unwavering focus on empowering Indian consumers and merchants. His conviction reflected a forward-looking vision of building a world-class, homegrown technology champion with a strong foundation in the country’s regulatory and economic fabric.
Now, with Ant Group’s complete exit, Paytm’s cap table has shifted meaningfully toward domestic and global institutional investors.
The timing of this structural change is also significant. It follows a strong Q1 FY26 performance, where the Noida-based firm posted a Profit After Tax (PAT) of ₹123 crore, its first-ever fully profitable quarter surpassing analyst expectations. Operating revenue rose 28% year-on-year to ₹1,918 crore, while contribution profit surged 52% YoY to ₹1,151 crore.
Paytm, India’s best and fastest payments app, continues to strengthen the mobile payments experience with customer-centric innovations. The company has introduced five key features: the ability to hide or unhide specific payments for added privacy; home screen widgets like ‘Receive Money’ for faster access; personalised UPI IDs that allow creation of unique handles without revealing mobile numbers; downloadable UPI statements in Excel or PDF formats; and a consolidated view of total balance across all UPI-linked bank accounts. Expanding its global footprint, Paytm now supports UPI payments in countries including the UAE, Singapore, France, Mauritius, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal , enabling smoother transactions for Indian travellers abroad.
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