India is willing to provide not only technical expertise but also funding to low and middle income countries interested in improving or developing their digital payment systems.
Speaking on the sidelines of the G-20 Sherpas meeting in Kumarakom, Kerala, a senior government official told BLiTZ, “We are looking at helping countries that have their own digital public infrastructure. We have built our infrastructure and are showing it through the G-20. We will also finance countries taking such initiatives.
Reserve Bank of India deputy governor T Ravi Shankar had said last month that the Caribbean and South Pacific regions and some Latin American countries are keen to use Unified Payments Interface or similar technology. However, this was understood only to the extent of technical expertise. Funding such exercises will give a new direction to India’s outreach to middle and low income countries.
Another official said, ‘It is like an extension of India’s soft power. Along with this, the private sector of India capable of these technologies will get business opportunities abroad.
Success in digital public infrastructure like Aadhaar, UPI is something India wants to showcase in its G-20 presidency.
The above mentioned official said, “This year we are organizing almost all the events and there is a session on DPI. We have invited representatives from many countries, including those outside the G-20. We are actively working on these sessions.
Both the officials said the sessions are being used to give details of UPI and Aadhaar technology to attract them to adopt them in their digital public infrastructure.
Speaking on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) CEO Dilip Asbe told reporters that after India and Singapore added digital payment systems, many other countries would also be interested in such linkages. including the neighboring countries of West Asia and South Asia.
