India : From a small town in Uttar Pradesh to leading one of India’s fast-growing digital lenders, Mahesh Shukla, Founder and CEO of PayMe India, has been honoured with the Award for Financial Empowerment at the TOI Youth Icons Summit & Awards. The award was presented by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Shri Yogi Adityanath at a ceremony in Lucknow on 27 October 2026.
The summit brought together young achievers from across the state, from sportspersons and entrepreneurs to technologists and artists. PayMe India was recognised for making credit simple, fast and transparent, and for helping people make financial decisions with confidence. Mahesh Shukla said: “This award reinforces what we believe at PayMe India: financial services must be easy to reach, so that people can make confident financial decisions. It is special to receive this honour in my home state. Uttar Pradesh has a young, aspirational population, and there is tremendous scope to deepen financial inclusion here. I dedicate this award to our team and to every customer who has trusted us.”
Mahesh Shukla built his career in banking and retail lending before founding PayMe India in 2016, after seeing how hard it was for salaried and first-time borrowers to get small, short-term credit. Today, the Noida-headquartered company is an RBI-registered NBFC with a team of several hundred professionals.
PayMe India offers instant, collateral-free personal loans of up to ₹5 lakh through its app and website, in a 100% digital, paperless process. Customers can apply from anywhere, with disbursal within minutes of approval and minimal documentation. The platform works with regulated NBFC lending partners and is ISO 27001 certified.
PayMe India sees Uttar Pradesh’s young workforce and rising digital adoption as a major opportunity, and aims to bring its digital lending services to more salaried professionals, first-time borrowers and small-town customers across the state.
****