New Delhi: The World Bank has heaped praise on India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), hailing its transformative impact that extends far beyond mere financial inclusion. The international financial institution has commended India’s astounding progress in a mere six years—achievements that would typically have taken almost five decades to attain.
It is no secret that India has successfully developed a robust digital public goods infrastructure, which holds the potential to positively influence lives worldwide. Key examples of these initiatives include the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Jan Dhan, Aadhar, ONDC, and CoWin.
In anticipation of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, the World Bank’s G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) document highlights the significant strides taken by the Indian government, emphasizing the pivotal role of government policies and regulations in shaping the DPI landscape.
The World Bank underscores the significance of the “JAM Trinity” (Jan Dhan, Aadhar, Mobile), which combines universal bank account access, Aadhaar identification, and mobile connectivity. This triumvirate has propelled India’s financial inclusion rate from 25 percent in 2008 to over 80 percent of adults within the past six years. The World Bank estimates that this journey was shortened by up to 47 years thanks to the DPIs.
The World Bank document stated, “While DPIs’ role in this leapfrogging is undoubtable, other ecosystem variables and policies that build on the availability of DPIs were critical. These included interventions to create a more enabling legal and regulatory framework, national policies to expand account ownership, and leveraging Aadhaar for identity verification.”
Since its launch in 2014, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has witnessed remarkable growth. The number of PMJDY accounts tripled from 147.2 million in March 2015 to 462 million by June 2022, with women owning a significant 56 percent of these accounts, totaling more than 260 million.
The World Bank also acknowledged India’s adept use of technology for direct benefit transfers to citizens and the utilization of UPI for retail payments. The DPI in India has not only improved efficiency for private organizations but has also reduced complexity, costs, and time associated with business operations in the country, it noted.
In response to the World Bank’s report, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to the social media platform X, stating that it is a testament to the “rapid progress and innovation” in India.
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