G20 Concluding day- “With so much diversity, India is the testing lab for all the solutions that can be applied anywhere in the world”: PM Modi

“The three priority areas selected by the Indian presidency for the Digital Economy Working Group are - Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), Security in Digital Economy & Digital Scaling. These reflect the priorities of PM Modi. PM Modi believes in the democratization of technology," says Cabinet Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at the G20 Digital Economy Ministers’ Meeting, being held in Bengaluru today. On this occasion, PM Modi via virtual video addressed the delegates and said, “India’s digital transformation over the past 9 years is unprecedented. It started with the launch of the Digital India initiative in 2015 which is powered by an unshakeable belief in innovation with a commitment to speedy implementation. It is motivated by our spirit of inclusion, leaving no one behind. Today, India has over 850 million internet users enjoying some of the cheapest data costs in the world. We have leveraged technology to transform governance, to make it more efficient, inclusive, faster, and transparent. India's digital public infrastructure offers scalable, secure, and inclusive solutions for global challenges. India is an incredibly diverse country. With such diversity, India is the testing lab for all the solutions that can be applied anywhere in the world. India is ready to share its experiences with the world.”

Minister Ashwini further said, “We have assembled to deliberate on issues that will define the growth of the digital economy. Bengaluru is the home to some of the most innovative companies in the world ranging from legacy businesses to start-ups. The need for collaboration has become more important and use cases of artificial intelligence have evolved at a greater pace. Global interconnectedness creates shared security risks. Hence, the need to collaborate on digital security has become more urgent. ”The Minister further said that the DPI has a significant role to play in the digitization and democratization of technology. DPI provides safe solutions and platforms for public and service providers with a wide variety of digital services. In this regard, the power of the instant payment system called UPI should be mentioned. India’s digital payment options are a vibrant example of the public-private partnership approach. 473 banks, over 50 million businesses, and over 335 million users joined this platform. The result is 10 million near-instant transactions in July 2023. On an annualized basis the value of this transaction has crossed 2 trillion dollars USD. The next frontier and the solution the government is looking at will be digital credit where well-established banks and financial institutions would compete for a loan of ticket size as small as 1 dollar. So that people at the lower edge of the pyramid will get the same level of financial services as rich people get.