I. Introduction

Crossing Borders

Speaking at the AI Action Summit in Paris in February 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared, “India has successfully built a digital public infrastructure (DPI) for over 1.4 billion people at a very low cost. It is built around an open and accessible network. It has regulations, and a wide range of applications to modernise our economy, reform governance and transform the lives of our people.”^[1]

Indeed, DPIs and related digital goods and services have proven their potential for driving digital inclusion, boosting service delivery and innovation, and ensuring digital human rights without compromising on trust and security. Encouraged by the scale of success, several other states in the Global South have begun to build their DPIs with India’s support.

The enthusiasm around DPIs goes well beyond the South. The European Union is working with India to make their respective DPIs more interoperable, and the two have “pledged to promote DPI solutions to third countries.”^[2] Similarly, the United States (US) has made a commitment with India to enter into a Global Digital Development Partnership to pool technology and resources and help build DPIs in developing nations.^[3] The Group of 20 (G20) too, has actively been promoting the exploration and uptake of DPI since the Indian presidency of 2023, through the Brazilian presidency of 2024, and the ongoing presidency of South Africa during which the G20 aims to create possible instruments to support DPI implementation as well as guidelines for DPI governance.^[4]

Digital Public Infrastructure and Digital Public Goods

DPIs refer to “a set of shared digital systems which are secure and interoperable, built on open standards, and specifications to deliver and provide equitable access to public and private services at societal scale, and are governed by enabling rules to drive development, inclusion, innovation, trust, and competition, and to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms.”^[5]

They adhere to the basic principles of public infrastructure, i.e. they are indivisible, non-exclusionary, and offer opportunities for public value capture.^[i] Leading examples of DPIs in India include the Aadhaar unique digital identity; the Unified Payments Interface (UPI)—a real-time payments system; and the Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA)—a secure consent-based data-sharing framework. These and other DPIs have been instrumental in shaping India’s digital economy, in much the same way that physical infrastructure like roads or ports have contributed to its economic growth and development.

DPIs are composed of building blocks such as software code, platforms, applications and application programming interfaces (APIs) that are interoperable and generic. Because these blocks are modular in nature, they can be combined to create a stack of technologies that constitute the DPI’s architecture.

The term ‘digital public goods’ (DPGs), while sometimes incorrectly used interchangeably with DPIs, is a distinct yet complementary concept. DPGs are defined as “open-source software, open data, open artificial intelligence models, open standards and open content that adhere to privacy and other applicable best practices, and do no harm.”^[6] Some of them are part of the building blocks that help operationalise DPIs, as the preceding paragraph indicates, but they are not DPIs themselves. DPGs and digital public services are typically citizen-facing and provide specific value propositions for end users.

The DPG Alliance requires that a “good DPG” should fulfil nine conditions. These include being relevant to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), using approved open licenses, being independent of any particular platform, having mechanisms for extracting data, and conforming to applicable privacy and security laws and standards.^[7] Bhashini, India’s AI-led language translation platform,^[8] and Co-WIN, the Covid-19 Vaccine Intelligence Network, which allowed citizen registration, record-keeping and certificate generation during the country’s whole-of-population vaccination drive, ^[9] are both important examples of Indian DPGs.

The Indian Approach 

India’s approach to DPI implementation differs from the routes to digitalisation adopted by other big economies.^[10] In some countries, private technology platforms have created “walled gardens” of tech infrastructure, algorithms, and services. These large platforms typically operate in—and dominate—winner-takes-all markets. At the other end of the spectrum are certain states that are driven primarily by government-tech: governments take end-to-end responsibility for selecting technologies, building infrastructures, and providing products and services.

The Indian DPI approach lies midway between these two extremes. Here, the government and regulators have provided the basic techno-legal framework and undergirding, and the digital infrastructure is provisioned according to a public-private partnership model.^[11] In such a system, there are market incentives for the private sector to invest in and innovate around products, service development, and user engagement. This ensures a synergistic balance between government investments in technology, the private provisioning of public infrastructure, and the need for citizen-centricity in implementation.

A metaphor often used to describe the functioning of DPIs is that of a digital railroad. At its foundation is the infrastructure layer laid by the government (which is akin to a railway track), upon which the DPI’s building blocks are placed (much like signalling systems and traffic management algorithms). Atop these two layers run the consumer applications and services developed by the private and public sectors (i.e. the trains in the metaphor).

The impact of DPI in India has been extraordinary, and it is measurable in both quantitative and qualitative terms. The speed and scale of its implementation—foundational DPIs now cover virtually the country’s entire population—have been especially widely lauded. There is little doubt that the strategic expansion of DPI will be central to India’s growth, and to the national aspiration of becoming a US$8-trillion economy by 2030.^[12]

The figures demonstrating DPI’s growth and impact are impressive by any standard. In 2022, DPI’s contribution to India’s gross domestic product (GDP) was 0.9 percent, and this is projected to increase to 2.9-4.2 percent by 2030.^[13] 1.3 billion Indian citizens or 96.8 percent of the population have Aadhaar digital IDs, and some 99.9 percent of all Indian adults use the Aadhaar ID to avail of a service at least once every month. Seeding Aadhaar with bank accounts and payment systems has been instrumental in enabling a dramatic increase in the number of bank accounts. In 2011, only 15 percent of the Indian population above 15 years of age had bank accounts, but this increased to 77.5 percent in 2022.^[14]

UPI enabled 70 percent of all digital payment transactions in India in FY 2023-24, and acted as a key driver of financial inclusion and digital payments, processing some 16.6 billion transactions by October 2024.^[15] India’s DigiLocker has provided digital space access to 32 million users, and the 3.69 billion documents stored so far are facilitating efficient paperless governance.^[16] And e-NAM (National Agriculture Marketplace) has provided services to 16.4 million farmers while integrating 585 agricultural marketplaces, and allowing transactions worth INR 700 billion.^[17]

DPIs have also resulted in the establishment of domain-specific open stakeholder networks. India’s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is democratising e-commerce by bringing businesses and small merchants on to a common platform for buying and selling goods and services. As of January 2024, the ONDC operated across more than 616 Indian cities, propelling the growth of e-commerce.^[18] Similarly, the Open Credit Enablement Network (OCEN) pilot is beginning to transform the country’s credit landscape by supporting interactions between lenders and account aggregators, and ensuring a smoother flow of credit to small businesses and entrepreneurs.^[19]

Future Considerations 

With the passage of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act in August 2023, after years of deliberations, India now has a data protection law in place. The enforcement of the Act is yet to begin, however, and the Rules that will guide its implementation are currently being finalised.^[20] In the meantime, public and private entities that deal with personal data are working to make themselves DPDP-compliant.

Going forward, the potential friction between DPI and the DPDP Act will need to be negotiated. As legal experts observe, “With Aadhaar providing a foundational digital ID and UPI supporting billions of monthly transactions, DPI has enabled seamless, inclusive access to essential services. However, the scale of these systems has amplified regulatory challenges. The DPDP Act, which mandates data protection and privacy standards, adds additional regulatory requirements for compliance. Striking a balance between accessibility and compliance with these privacy protections is now critical. ”^[21]

For instance, India’s National Health Authority has integrated the DPI model into its Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission (ABDHM) to create an interoperable digital health ecosystem. This national health stack includes digital health IDs and electronic health records, and enables patient-provider interactions to advance access to quality healthcare. Given the sensitivity of health data, however, stringent compliance with the DPDP Act will be crucial, especially around the receipt of explicit consent for collecting and processing personal data. Similarly, in the transport sector, the National Highway Authority of India’s FASTag system allows for efficient cashless toll payments, and has reduced operational costs and congestion across highways. Under the DPDP regime though, FASTag will have to meet substantial data localisation and privacy requirements. These will increase as it finds new use cases such as parking and fuel payments.^[22]

India’s three foundational DPIs—digital identity, a payments interface, and a data-sharing architecture—are well established, but pathways for creating a greater number of foundational DPGs could be explored. Today, Aadhaar acts as a tool that validates one’s identity, but it may also be productive to reimagine identity as a DPG that allows one to check-in at a hotel or other facilities. This is conceptually different from the use of the DigiYatra app at airports, which provides a form of digi-attendance. The idea of digi-checkins would involve capturing images and proof of government IDs, collecting electronic signatures, and encrypting and securely storing this data.^[23]

The notion of location as a DPG is already being explored through a pilot titled DHRUVA (Digital Hub for Reference and Unique Virtual Address). Executed by India’s Department of Posts, it aims to build a “digital address DPI” that will “allow users to create, access, share, manage and use their address information.” DHRUVA will “support the traditional addressing system by enabling users to depict and share their addresses in a standardised and geo-coded format,” and is expected to “enhance address precision, reduce errors in communication and service delivery.”^[24]

The DHRUVA ecosystem consists of two main layers: the DIGIPIN (Digital Postal Index Number), which is a ten-digit alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies locations using geospatial data; and a ‘Digital Address’ built upon the DIGIPIN that will allow users to self-generate unique labels to represent their DIGIPIN and their descriptive address(es). In many ways, this is akin to people’s UPI IDs, which dispense with the need to rewrite one’s bank account details each time one needs to make a payment. As with the foregoing examples of the ABDHM and FASTag however, DHRUVA too, will need to prioritise meeting the DPDP Act’s conditions. As the policy document governing its development emphasises, there must be “strong safeguards to ensure the privacy and security of the information shared” and the system must be “compliant with applicable laws such as the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.”^[25]

Additionally, strengthening the foundational layers of digital infrastructure is essential to enable the sustainable growth and scaling of DPIs. This includes expanding telecommunication connectivity through wider coverage and affordable access, alongside other core enablers. It is also important to enhance the robustness of existing DPI platforms. Identity systems like Aadhaar can be made more robust by preventing duplicate registrations and the elimination of ghost identities. These foundational improvements are critical to ensure the reliability, inclusiveness, and long-term viability of India’s digital ecosystem.

The Present Publication

This publication was inspired by a day-long stakeholder engagement event co-hosted by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) at the IIMB campus in August 2024. Titled “Decoding DPI: Scripting Inclusive Digital Futures”, the event brought together experts, practitioners, and institutions who are helping shape India’s DPI ecosystem, and technology thinkers and researchers in the domain.

The event focused on three themes: the key principles that ought to be kept in mind when designing and rolling out DPIs; the private provisioning of public infrastructure; and the implications of DPI for innovation and competition. The three main chapters of this volume address these themes, and for each of them, the authors have taken key issues identified during the discussions and supplemented them with further research and analysis.

Chapter 2, ‘The DPI Principles Guiding India’s Digital Ascent’, by Manisha Rathi and Anulekha Nandi, unpacks five principles or sutras governing the design of DPIs. They include: ensuring citizen’s agency and privacy; promoting interoperability through the use of open standards and APIs; crafting techno-legal regulation, or combining public technology with law to ensure the ethical use of tech; preventing corporatisation and private monopolies; and safeguarding DPIs against weaponisation.

Chapter 3, ‘Private Provisioning of Digital Public Infrastructure’, by Pramoth Kumar Joseph and Tanusha Tyagi, examines the concept of privately provisioned public goods, and its relevance and application to DPIs. It investigates instances of private sector participation in DPI implementation that have enhanced DPIs’ impact, analyses why such involvement is necessary, and goes on to propose public-private partnership models for developing DPIs that embed a viable profit motive for private actors.

Chapter 4, ‘Digital Public Infrastructure: Balancing Innovation and Competition’, by Anuradha Sharma and Basu Chandola, explores how DPIs have unleashed innovation and entrepreneurship by allowing enterprises to design novel applications atop the DPI layers. This has galvanised competition and improved consumer experience. But while DPIs’ creation of a relatively level playing field for businesses is widely celebrated, the chapter warns that sometimes they could paradoxically foreclose the possibility of competition and produce new monopolies instead.

The publication’s concluding chapter, by its editors, brings together the principal findings and recommendations from Chapters 2–4, and points to certain new phenomena, such as the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and DPI, that must increasingly be navigated.

As the twenty-first century reaches its quarter-way mark, DPI is entrenching itself in the lives and imaginations of citizens and nations across the world. Not only has it redefined citizen-state-enterprise interactions domestically, it has also positioned India as a digital partner of choice for the Global South and a natural development partner for much of the North. Against this background, the present publication hopes to spark further conversations and debates about DPI’s foundational ethos, its evolving architecture, its strengths and weaknesses, and what it could mean for our collective digital futures.

Endnotes

^[i] ‘Indivisibility’ refers to the efficient organisation of different components of a system in a way that they provide undifferentiated value to its agents/users, and the value of the system as a whole is much greater than its individual components. The principle of being ‘non-exclusionary’ refers to the provision of free and open access in a non-discriminatory manner to all agents/users. ‘Public value capture’ refers to the quality of infrastructure to provide a range of positive externalities to agents/users and society at large, with or without the creation of private value.

^[1] Narendra Modi, “Opening Address by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at the AI Action Summit, Paris,” (speech, Paris, 2025), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, https://www.mea.gov.in/Speeches-Statements.htm?dtl/39020/Opening_Address_by_Prime_Minister_Shri_Narendra_Modi_at_the_AI_Action_Summit_Paris_February_11_2025.

^[2] “2^nd India-EU Trade and Technology Council Meeting: Strengthening Ties in Digital Governance and Connectivity,” India News Network, March 1, 2025, https://www.indianewsnetwork.com/en/20250301/2nd-india-eu-trade-and-technology-council-meeting-strengthening-ties-in-digital-governance-and-connectivity.

^[3] “India, US to Develop, Deploy Digital Public Infra in Developing Countries,” Economic Times, July 6, 2023, https://government.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/technology/india-us-to-develop-deploy-digital-public-infra-in-developing-countries/101537345.

^[4] G20 South Africa, “Digital Economy,” 2025, https://g20.org/track/digital-economy-2/.

^[5] Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India, Report of India’s G20 Task Force on Digital Public Infrastructure, Delhi, 2024, https://dea.gov.in/sites/default/files/Report%20of%20Indias%20G20%20Task%20Force%20On%20Digital%20Public%20Infrastructure.pdf.

^[6] United Nations, Report of the Secretary-General: Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, 2020, https://www.un.org/en/content/digital-cooperation-roadmap/assets/pdf/Roadmap_for_Digital_Cooperation_EN.pdf.

^[7] “Digital Public Goods Standard,” Digital Public Goods Alliance, https://www.digitalpublicgoods.net/standard.

^[8] Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, “Bhashini,” https://bhashini.gov.in/.

^[9] Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, “Co-WIN,” https://www.cowin.gov.in/.

^[10] India’s Digital Public Infrastructure: Accelerating India’s Digital Inclusion, NASSCOM and Arthur D Little, February 2024, https://community.nasscom.in/communities/digital-transformation/nasscom-arthur-d-little-indias-digital-public-infrastructure.

^[11] Smriti Parsheera, “Digital Public Infrastructure and the Jeopardy of ‘Alt Big Tech’ in India,” Center for the Advanced Study of India, February 10, 2024, https://casi.sas.upenn.edu/iit/smriti-parsheera-2024

^[12] “India’s Digital Growth: DPIs Could Drive $8 Trillion Economy by 2030, Says NASSCOM,” Hindu Business Line, February 21, 2024, https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/dpis-to-drive-indias-gdp-growth-by-3x-paving-way-to-8-trillion-economy-report/article67870118.ece.

^[13] Amaia Sánchez-Cacicedo, “India’s Digital Public Infrastructure: A Success Story for the World?,” Institut Montaigne, 2021, https://www.institutmontaigne.org/en/expressions/indias-digital-public-infrastructure-success-story-world.

^[14] Amaia Sánchez-Cacicedo, “India’s Digital Public Infrastructure: A Success Story for the World?,” Institut Montaigne, 2021, https://www.institutmontaigne.org/en/expressions/indias-digital-public-infrastructure-success-story-world.

^[15] DPI: Year Ender Compilation 2024, Protean, 2024, https://proteantech.in/articles/dpi-2-0-2-4-developments/.

^[16] Naman Agrawal, S Mohit Rao and Himanshu Agrawal, “The Role of Digital Infrastructure in Socio-Economic Development,” Invention Intelligence, March–April, 2021, https://www.niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2021-09/The-Role-of-Digital-Infrastructure-in-socio-economic-development-042021.pdf.

^[17] Naman Agrawal, S Mohit Rao and Himanshu Agrawal, “The Role of Digital Infrastructure in Socio-Economic Development”.

^[18] Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2090097.

^[19] Sauradeep Bag, “India’s Open Credit Enablement Network as a Model to Empower MSMEs in Emerging Economies,” Observer Research Foundation, October 9, 2023, https://www.orfonline.org/research/indias-open-credit-enablement-network.

^[20] S Ronendra Singh, “DPDP’s Final Rules May Come in Next 8 Weeks: Govt Sources,” Hindu Business Line, March 5, 2025, https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/dpdps-final-rules-may-come-in-next-8-weeks-government-sources/article69295210.ece

^[21] Arjun Goswami, Varun Mehta and Yashika Sachdeva, “RegTech and Digital Public Infrastructure: Navigating Compliance in India’s Digital Landscape,” Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, November 18, 2024, https://corporate.cyrilamarchandblogs.com/2024/11/regtech-and-digital-public-infrastructure-navigating-compliance-in-indias-digital-landscape/.

^[22] “HPCL and IDFC First Bank Partner to Enable Fuel Payments Using FASTag,” IDFC First Bank, November 18, 2024, https://www.idfcfirstbank.com/about-us/news-and-media/press-releases/hpcl-and-idfc-first-bank-partner-for-fASTag-fuel-payments.

^[23] “Transform your Reception,” DIGICHECK.IN, https://www.digicheck.in/index2.html.

^[24] Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications, DHRUVA: Digital Hub for Reference and Unique Virtual Address, May 2025, https://www.indiapost.gov.in/VAS/DOP_PDFFiles/IP_30052025_Digipin_English.pdf.

^[25] Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications, DHRUVA: Digital Hub for Reference and Unique Virtual Address, https://www.indiapost.gov.in/VAS/DOP_PDFFiles/IP_30052025_Digipin_English.pdf.

• Digital Inclusion
• India
• digilocker india
• digital personal data protection
• digital personal data protection act
• digital personal data protection act 2023
• digital public goods
• digital public infrastructure
• digital public infrastructure india
• dpi implementation in india
• dpi in india
• dpi systems
• ondc india

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