Exporting India's Digital Public Infrastructure

India has promoted its model of digital public infrastructure (DPI), open, shared digital systems for identity, payments and data, as a template for other countries.

The G20

During India’s G20 presidency in 2023, DPI was a major theme. G20 members endorsed a framework for DPI, and India proposed a global DPI repository.

MOSIP

The Modular Open Source Identity Platform (MOSIP), developed at IIIT Bangalore, offers open-source software for national ID systems, inspired by Aadhaar. Countries such as the Philippines, Morocco, Ethiopia and others have used it.

UPI abroad

UPI has been linked or made available in several countries, and NPCI International works with other countries to build similar payment systems.

Why countries are interested

• Low cost: open-source tools avoid expensive proprietary systems.
• Sovereignty: countries control their own systems.
• Proven scale.

Caveats

• Each country needs its own laws, privacy protections and institutions.
• Lessons from India’s challenges, such as exclusion errors, should inform design.

Module recap

• The JAM trinity linked bank accounts, Aadhaar and mobiles.
• Aadhaar and Jan Dhan built identity and financial inclusion at scale.
• DBT reduced some leakages, though savings claims are debated.
• Authentication failures show risks of exclusion.
• DigiLocker, ABDM, GeM and faceless assessment digitised services.
• The DPDP Act protects data; the digital divide persists.
• India promotes DPI abroad.