New Delhi: India occupies a commanding position, holding 48.5 percent of the global volume in real-time payments, as per the report released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday.
Furthermore, the report underscores India's leadership in the realm of global remittances, with the country amassing USD 115.3 billion in remittances in 2023.
"India emerges as a global frontrunner with a 48.5 percent share in the volume of global real-time payments. The surge in global remittances, facilitated through mobile money and digital platforms, is projected to reach USD 857.3 billion in 2023, with India accounting for USD 115.3 billion," the report elucidates.
The digital economy presently constitutes approximately 10 percent of India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is anticipated to ascend to a fifth of GDP by 2026, drawing from the growth observed over the preceding decade.
According to the RBI, digital payments have witnessed a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 50 percent in terms of transaction volume and 10 percent in value terms over the last seven years, involving 164 billion transactions valued at Rs 428 lakh crore in the fiscal year 2023-24.
The report highlights India's pivotal role in the digital transformation, adopting not only financial technology (FinTech) but also the India Stack, a comprehensive suite of services including biometric identification, the unified payments interface (UPI), mobile connectivity, digital lockers, and consent-based data sharing.
This digital transformation is enhancing the infrastructure of the banking sector and the management of public finances, encompassing both direct benefit transfers and tax collection mechanisms. E-markets are flourishing and broadening their scope.
However, the report also addresses the critical issue of cybersecurity, noting the complex nature of cyber threats targeting the digital financial infrastructure. The number of security incidents reported to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has seen a significant increase, rising from 53,117 in 2017 to 13,20,106 incidents between January and October 2023. A majority of these incidents, over 80 percent, are attributed to unauthorized network scanning/probing and vulnerable services.
Looking forward, the report emphasizes the importance of India's digital technology infrastructure as a key driver of growth. The focus is on the development of next-generation communication technologies such as 6G and satellite networks, in addition to the expansion of the 5G network to rural and underserved urban areas. The advancement of these technologies is expected to open new avenues for development in previously untapped regions.
Moreover, the report underscores the necessity of achieving self-sufficiency in chip manufacturing to fully realize the potential of the digital revolution.
