Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has roped in top technology entrepreneurs and executives including Infosys co-founder and billionaire Nandan Nilekani to help get more Indians to adopt digital payments.
Besides Mr. Nilekani and chief ministers of several states, the committee includes other top technology executives like Rajesh Jain, founder of netCore Solutions and Sharad Sharma, former Yahoo! India R&D head and co-founder of software product think-tank iSPIRT.
‘Invitee member’
“I am just an invitee member of this 13-person committee headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu,” said Mr. Nilekani in response to a query. Mr. Jain, who is also part of the committee, founded IndiaWorld Communications, which was acquired by Satyam Infoway in 1999 for $115 million in one of Asia’s largest Internet deals.
By enabling broader access and participation in the financial system, the government said that it aimed to reduce income inequality, boost job creation and accelerate consumption.
Mr. Nilekani, who spearheaded the country’s massive unique identification project Aadhaar, laid out the blueprint for turning India into a cashless economy during a speech at Carnegie India Global Technology Summit in Bengaluru, this week. He said that solutions such as Aadhaar, micro-ATMs, UPI, digital wallets are already available to turn India into a cashless economy.
“Now there is a political will to accelerate digital cashless transactions because of the environment,” said Mr. Nilekani.
He said that there are about 250 million active smartphone users in the country who can do digital payments using modes such as cards, mobile wallets and UPI. About 350 million people use feature phones and they can send and receive money through USSD, a global system for mobile communication technology. Mr.Nilekani said another 300 million people in the country don’t have phone at all and many of them live in rural India and are economically challenged. He said here micro-ATM which do not require a phone could be used to help these people access banking services.
He said because of the government’s policy window for the implementation of a cashless economy, there is going to be acceleration for the deployment of financial digital technology. “We are going to see exciting times and see the intersection of policy and technology,” said Mr.Nilekani. “If you have to solve cashless economy it requires Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai to work together.”
