Digital public infra’s GDP contribution to triple by 2030: Report

Bengaluru: India’s digital public infrastructure (DPI) will play a key role in the country’s aspiration to become a $1 trillion digital economy and an $8 trillion economy thereof by 2030, a Nasscom-Arthur D Little report said on Wednesday. This would mean anywhere between 2.9 and 4.2 per cent contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of this decade.

According to the report, matured DPI such as Aadhaar, United Payments Interface (UPI), Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) and FASTag enabled value creation to the tune of $31.8 billion in 2022, accounting for 0.9 per cent of the country’s GDP.

“DPI's success has positioned India as a global leader in digital innovation, aiming to influence nations globally, promising equitable access to technology for all and fostering economic growth,” Nasscom president  Debjani Ghosh said.

These interoperable, open-source DPIs are now being adopted or considered by over 30 countries to enhance social and financial inclusion, the report said. In India, their successful adoption is impacting 1.3 billion lives, covering 97 per cent of the country’s population.

In 2022, Aadhaar enabled economic value creation of $15.2 billion, primarily through the elimination of direct benefits transfer leakages. Meanwhile UPI replaced cash transactions and electronic transfers across sectors, contributing $16.2 billion.

Beyond economic value addition, DPIs also contribute to ecological benefits, process efficiencies and citizen convenience. In 2022, each Indian citizen saved an estimated two working days owing to transforming service delivery methods, while ecologically, time saved in logistics reduced carbon emissions by 3.2 million tonnes, per the report.

“While mature DPIs have witnessed exponential adoption by 2022, the next 7-8 years offer an opportunity for further scalability, reaching even the most remote segments of the population,” India president of management consulting firm Arthur D Little, said.

Going forward, the transformation of matured and budding DPIs through innovative technology integration such as artificial intelligence, Web3 and metaverse, presents significant opportunities. However, key challenges in their mass adoption include lack of interconnectedness among various stakeholders, lack of real time data availability, limited language expansion for users to access in preferred languages and future partnerships beyond government services, the report stated.