By leveraging a "public good" model rather than closed platforms, India has transitioned from a consumer of digital systems to a primary architect of population-scale Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).
What is DPI?
- UN defines DPI as foundational digital systems that enable secure interactions between citizens, businesses, and governments.
- Effective DPI must be:
- Inclusive: Ensuring access regardless of geography or socio-economic status.
- Interoperable: Allowing different systems to work together seamlessly through open APIs.
- Publicly Governed: Designed to deliver public value and protect the public interest.
Significance of India’s DPI
- Scale and Efficiency: India’s DPI facilitates billions of transactions monthly at a very low cost, significantly reducing leakages in welfare delivery (saving over ₹4.31 lakh crore via the Public Financial Management System).
- Economic Impact: UPI now accounts for 49% of global real-time payment transaction volume.
- Sectoral Depth: Beyond payments, the "India Stack" has expanded into health (CoWIN, eSanjeevani), education (DIKSHA), e-commerce (ONDC), and judicial services (e-Courts).
- Global Diplomacy: India is actively exporting this model, having signed MoUs with 24 countries and offering platforms like CoWIN as open-source digital public goods.
- UPI Cross-Border: UPI is live in 8 countries: UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, France, Mauritius, and Qatar.
- Modular Open-Source Identity Platform (MOSIP): Developed in India, MOSIP is being explored or adopted by more than 25 nations for sovereign digital identity systems.
