Benefits of digital public platforms should be available to the whole world: RBI Guv Malhotra

India is fully committed to international collaboration around Digital Public Platforms (DPPs), comprising interconnected digital building blocks such as digital identity, instant payment systems and secure data, according to RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra. “We believe that the benefits of DPPs should be available to the whole world, in the spirit of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, which means, ‘the world is one family’. “...We are fully committed to international collaboration around such platforms,” the Governor said in his opening remarks at the High-Level Dialogue on Forging Economic Resilience through Digital Public Platforms at Washington, D.C. He emphasised that in the spirit of this collaboration, India developed the Modular Open-Source Identity Platform (MOSIP) for digital identity. This free, secure, and scalable platform allows other countries to build their own national digital ID systems. 27 countries are currently either adopting or considering MOSIP-based systems, to deliver essential services quickly, directly, and seamlessly to their citizens. MOSIP is an open-source, not-for-profit platform empowering governments to own and operate secure, scalable, and customizable identity systems. 3 strategic approaches Malhotra noted that for collaboration in digital payments, the RBI has adopted three strategic approaches, including linking UPI (unified payments interface) with fast payment systems of other countries for cross-border remittances. Linkage between India and Singapore (UPI-PayNow) is live. Work is under progress with a few other countries bilaterally as well as multilaterally. RBI is also enabling cross-border merchant (P2M) payments through UPI via QR codes at merchant locations in both offline and e-commerce mode. This is already live in a few countries and work is in progress for enabling merchant payments in a few more countries. Moreover, the central bank is supporting deployment of UPI-like sovereign payment rails or upgrading existing systems in partner countries using UPI technology stack, while agreement/MoU have been signed for deployment in a few more countries. Malhotra emphasised that the aforementioned strategic efforts will also promote cross-border trade and payments, while encouraging efficiency, improving customer experience, and reducing cost. “Digital Public Platforms have proved to be central to inclusive growth in India. Their impact on welfare transfers, democratisation of payments and deepening of financial inclusion has, indeed, been transformative. We are committed to share our model to help countries accelerate digital transformation,” he said. Referring to a recent research study on the impact of UPI, the Governor said it suggests that higher UPI adoption is associated with lower cash demand. Another study shows that a one per cent increase in UPI transaction volumes correlates with a 0.03 per cent increase in GDP growth. Further, digital payment systems have decreased delivery costs, minimised revenue leakages, and facilitated rapid deployment of emergency relief programmes, particularly during the global Covid-19 pandemic. Published on October 16, 2025