BRICS Countries Can Use India’s UPI Instant Payment System, Prime Minister Modi Suggests

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Member states of the BRICS bloc can follow the example of other nations and start using India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system, according to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The country is a leader in digital transactions, the head of the Indian government said in South Africa where the organization is holding its annual summit.

India to Become Developed Nation by 2047, Modi Says at BRICS Business Forum

India is the world’s fastest growing major economy, despite the current turmoil, and will soon become a 5 trillion-dollar economy, the Prime Minister of the most populous democracy, Narendra Modi, told participants in the BRICS Business Forum. The event is part of the sessions of the group’s summit held in Johannesburg on Aug. 22-24.

“There is absolutely no doubt that in the coming years, India will be the growth engine of the world and the reason for this is that India has converted crisis and difficulties into opportunities for economic improvements,” Modi also stated, quoted by NDTV. He added that “the people of India have resolve to become a developed nation by 2047.”

The Indian leader highlighted some of his country’s achievements in the past few years, including reforms that have improved the business climate such as reducing the compliance burden and removing red tape as well as large-scale investments in infrastructure. For example, 10,000 km of new highways are being constructed in India annually and the number of airports has doubled in less than a decade.

One of India’s success stories is the locally developed Unified Payments Interface, which has become one of the most successful payment systems in the world since its launch in 2016. Created by the National Payments Corporation of India, UPI facilitates instant transfers between bank accounts through mobile apps. In May of this year, it processed a record 9 billion transactions worth $180 billion and in the 2023 fiscal year, the value of annual transactions reached $1.7 trillion.

“Today in India UPI is used at all levels from street vendors to large shopping malls. Today among all countries in the world, India is the country with the highest digital transaction,” Narendra Modi pointed out. “Countries like UAE, Singapore, and France are joining this platform. There are many possibilities of working on this with BRICS countries as well,” he emphasized. India has shared its UPI technology with a number of other nations, including Australia, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.

At the summit, the leaders of the BRICS member states and other officials have been discussing a range of topics relevant to the development of their nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – as well as the future role of the organization on the global stage. These include promoting the use of local currencies in cross-border trade, the introduction of unified settlement systems, the potential launch of a common currency, and the bloc’s expansion.

Do you think the other BRICS members will show interest in adopting India’s UPI Instant Payment System? Tell us in the comments section below.