Govt looks to expand UPI's global footprint, eyes East Asia: DFS secy
New Delhi, Jan 13, 2026
Nagaraju further said UPI transactions crossed more than 21 billion in December 2025, underlining the rapid adoption of digital payments in the country
The government is taking steps to scale up the international presence of India’s indigenous digital payments platform, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), with a key emphasis on expanding its reach in East Asian markets, Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju said on Tuesday.
“India today is about 50 per cent digital in terms of transactions because of UPI. We have expanded to some countries and are now trying to take it to a larger number of countries, especially focusing on East Asia,” he said while speaking at the Global Inclusive Finance India Summit.
Nagaraju said UPI has already been rolled out in eight countries — Bhutan, Singapore, Qatar, Mauritius, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sri Lanka and France — enabling Indian travellers to make digital payments overseas using the platform.
Nagaraju also emphasised the need to scale up small micro-units into medium enterprises, noting that the graduation of micro-units into medium and large enterprises has not been happening in the country despite the presence of several crore such units.
“The graduation of micro-units into medium and large enterprises is actually not happening in the country, despite having a few crore units in the country. I think that will happen only when the micro-enterprises get a lot of support, market access and also productivity gains, both through technology as well as hardware,” he said.
Nagaraju further said UPI transactions crossed more than 21 billion in December 2025, underlining the rapid adoption of digital payments in the country. He attributed the success of UPI and the broader digital payments ecosystem to the significant expansion of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), along with a steady rise in average balances in these accounts.
The Unified Payments Interface facilitates real-time peer-to-peer and merchant transactions and is operated by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). NPCI is an umbrella organisation for retail payments and settlement systems in India, promoted by the Reserve Bank of India and the Indian Banks’ Association.
He further noted that the government plans to revamp the Stand-Up India scheme to offer bigger loans and expand its coverage, as part of a wider effort to strengthen financial inclusion and support small entrepreneurs.
Nagaraju also noted that the government is “trying to revise the Stand-Up India scheme” and aims to “provide larger loans to more people from the SC, ST beneficiaries”. He also pointed out that women account for a higher share of beneficiaries under the scheme than men.
“Even in the Stand-Up India scheme, women’s participation is higher compared to men. In fact, among the SC, ST, the aspiration for women is higher compared to men,” he said.
Nagaraju said 99.9 per cent of villages are now covered by banking touchpoints, with the remaining gaps in difficult terrain such as parts of Arunachal Pradesh.
“We are trying to design some new things there. I hope by the end of this year, we will be having a touchpoint even in those remotest places within five kilometres,” he said, referring to a cluster-based approach for the Northeast.
Banking correspondents, he added, have been central to the expansion. “Imagine 60 lakh BCs going around in the villages, mohallas, trying to bring people, first opening their accounts and then providing banking services,” he said.
[The Business Standard]
