India’s Digital Public Infrastructure Among World’s Top 10 Reforms: CareEdge

New Delhi, Oct 17 (KNN) India's Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) has been ranked among the world's 10 highly effective structural reforms, supported by the extensive reach of Aadhaar, the scale of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions and rising digital payment adoption among businesses, according to a report by CareEdge Global Ratings.

The report assessed 43 reform cases across 38 countries, classifying 10 as highly effective, nine as moderately effective, 15 as work in progress and nine as least effective.

Aadhaar, UPI Drive Digital Adoption

India's Aadhaar system covers more than 1.3 billion people, representing approximately 95 per cent of the population, while UPI processes over 13 billion transactions every month, the report said.

Digital infrastructure has expanded access to services, reduced transaction costs and supported financial inclusion and economic formalisation, reported ANI.

The report also highlighted that digital transactions account for more than 85 per cent of transactions among micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), indicating their growing integration with the formal economy.

Nitesh Jain, Chief Rating Officer at CareEdge Global Ratings, said India's DPI addresses structural constraints such as cash dependence, limited access to banking and formal credit, and inadequate infrastructure for delivering financial services and welfare benefits at scale.

He said a common digital foundation enables multiple economic and administrative functions.

Coordination Key To Reform Success

The report identified institutional coordination and interoperability as key factors supporting India's digital infrastructure. Collaboration among government agencies, regulators, banks, payment networks and fintech companies has helped drive its development and adoption.

Europe and the Asia-Pacific region accounted for eight of the 10 highly effective reforms, with four cases each.

Other reforms classified as highly effective included tax digitalisation in Greece, Germany's debt brake, banking reforms in Cyprus and Project Repeal in the Philippines.

Implementation Remains Critical

The report said lasting reform outcomes require coherent policy design, appropriate sequencing, clear mandates, political commitment and stakeholder support. Credible implementation and measurable improvements are essential to ensure reforms deliver results.

It also highlighted emerging priorities for future reforms, including artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure requirements, climate risks, critical technologies and supply chains.

(KNN Bureau)