India’s ‘Digital Public Infrastructure’ (DPI) is no longer just a domestic success story, but has become a powerful tool for global diplomacy and technology leadership. The government told Parliament on Friday that the Unified Payments Interface is now live in more than eight countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), France and Singapore. Along with this, India has also signed agreements with 23 countries of the world to share its ‘India Stack’ and DPI models.
Minister of State for Electronics and IT Jitin Prasad, while sharing this information in Rajya Sabha, said that India is strengthening its position in the global fintech scenario.
UPI’s global expansion: from France to Bhutan
According to information given in Parliament, India’s popular payment platform UPI is now fully active in the following countries:
- United Arab Emirates (UAE)
- Singapore
- bhutan
- Nepal
- Sri Lanka
- France
- mauritius
- Queue
The Minister of State said that this increasing international spread of UPI is not only promoting remittances, but it is also encouraging financial inclusion. This move is establishing India as a leader in the global digital payments market.
Strategic agreements with 23 countries
The government has signed agreements or MOUs with 23 countries to adopt and replicate DPI under the ‘India Stack’ framework. Jitin Prasad clarified that these agreements are in line with India’s broader ‘DPI diplomacy’.
The main focus of these agreements is on cooperation in the following areas:
- digital identity
- digital payment
- data exchange
- service delivery platform
Notably, MoUs have been signed with Cuba, Kenya, UAE and Lao People’s Democratic Republic for ‘DigiLocker’.
India Stack Global and the legacy of G20
The Government has taken concrete steps to share the success of India’s DPI globally. Through the ‘India Stack Global’ portal, 18 major digital platforms have been showcased to the world for adoption by friendly countries.
Additionally, the ‘Global DPI Repository’ launched during India’s G20 Presidency (2023) is functioning as a global knowledge platform. The Minister informed that India is the largest contributor of DPI solutions to this repository. Major DPI and digital solutions include Aadhaar, UPI, CoWin, API Setu, DigiLocker, Aarogya Setu, GeM, Umang, Diksha, e-Sanjeevani and PM Gatishakti.
UPI broke records in January
Even on the domestic front, the pace of UPI is showing no signs of slowing down. According to the recently released data by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), a huge jump has been seen in UPI transactions in the month of January:
- Number of Transactions: There were a total of 21.70 billion (2,170 crore) transactions in January, which shows a growth of 28% year-on-year.
- Value of Transaction: In terms of amount also, an annual growth of 21% was recorded and this figure reached Rs 28.33 lakh crore.
These figures presented in Parliament and the performance in January show that India’s digital infrastructure is now defining global standards. While on one hand UPI has become the backbone of the domestic economy, on the other hand it is emerging as a symbol of India’s ‘soft power’ at the international level.
