India's Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Model
India Stack is the set of open, interoperable digital public goods built by the Government of India that forms the backbone of digital service delivery and increasingly of AI applications. It is frequently cited as one of the most significant governance innovations of the 21st century.
- Aadhaar: India's biometric identity system with over 1.4 billion enrolled identities; enables authentication, eKYC, and direct benefit transfers at scale.
- Unified Payments Interface (UPI): Real-time payments network processing over 15 billion transactions per month; built on the IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) infrastructure by NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India).
- DigiLocker: Cloud-based document wallet allowing citizens to store and share official documents digitally; integrated with government databases.
- Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC): Decentralised protocol allowing any buyer and seller to transact on a shared infrastructure, democratising e-commerce beyond platform monopolies.
- India Stack's "open protocol" architecture — where the infrastructure layer is public and the application layer is competitive — is now being studied and replicated by countries including Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, and Ethiopia, with support from the UNDP and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
● Tracked since February 16, 2026 · last seen February 26, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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