According to Union Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore, and France have signed up for India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) technology, and talks are ongoing with 30 additional nations. He also suggested that start-ups in the nation consider ways to expand UPI to a global scale.
Speaking at the National Start-up Conference in Gandhinagar’s Mahatma Mandir as part of Digital India Week 2022, Vaishnaw discussed the various steps the central government has taken to strengthen the start-up ecosystem in the nation and urged budding entrepreneurs to make the most of these opportunities.
Contrary to what political opponents of the current central government have claimed, who have called the Start-up India initiative “jumla,” the initiative has done very well, and many foreign countries have been surprised to see the progress India has made in such a short period of time, according to Vaishnaw.
Vaishnaw stated that the federal government’s Digital India GENESIS (Gen-Next Support for Innovating Start-ups) project will allow start-ups access to some of the more expansive government sectors, such as the Railways.
Vaishnaw requested that entrepreneurs assist the government in supporting MSMEs (Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises). “Can you think of a loan solution for MSMEs? Vaishnaw urged them to consider methods to introduce UPI to the rest of the world, saying that it should be a task they should take on.
“Can we spread UPI over the globe? Three nations have already joined up. Can we, however, scale it up? Because this is an excellent, fantastic answer. Can we spread it widely over the world? Every company involved in fintech… Vaishnaw remarked, “I’ll ask you to all have a look at it.
Additionally, Vaishnaw encouraged the startups to look up methods to expand Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) globally in a manner similar to UPI.
“Can we make Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) the next UPI by expanding it? I thus ask everyone to give it serious consideration, especially those involved in e-commerce. Consider ONDC and how it may function as a fantastic platform. It may become the next UPI, in our opinion. Therefore, consider how you might use it for your business, the minister said.
Vaishnaw also brought up the recently introduced BHASHINI (Bhasha Interface for India) programme during his address.
“BHASHINI was developed with the goal of connecting speakers of any language with speakers of any other language. Additionally, languages transcend political and geographical borders. We really think that Bhashini, which was developed for Indian languages, may develop into a platform for all other languages spoken worldwide, according to Vaishnaw.
