Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Dec 6: India’s journey toward becoming a $5-trillion economy is gaining pace, powered by solid economic fundamentals, rapid infrastructure development and robust supply chains, said M. Nagaraju, secretary of the Department of Financial Services.

Reflecting on a decade of major reforms, Nagaraju noted that initiatives such as Jan Dhan and the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) ecosystem have dramatically expanded financial inclusion—from just 21% in 2008 to more than 80% today. He was speaking at a conference on AI and DPI, as highlighted in an official statement.

The event was jointly organised by the National Institute for Smart Government (NISG), the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and Tripura’s Directorate of IT, with EY serving as the Knowledge Partner.

MeitY secretary S. Krishnan stressed that India’s technology landscape can reach its full potential only through strong collaboration between government, industry, civil society, and academia.

Bhuvnesh Kumar, ceo of UIDAI and NISG, underlined NISG’s hybrid model, which merges the agility of government decision-making with the efficiency and discipline of private-sector operations.

Mahaveer Singhvi, joint secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, outlined the ambitions of the IndiaAI Mission—boosting compute capacity, building datasets, developing foundational AI models, and fostering innovation frameworks aligned with India’s unique requirements.

A report released by NISG and EY during the event pointed to a clear consensus: the fusion of AI with India’s evolving DPI stack will accelerate economic empowerment, strengthen governance, and expand citizen-centric service delivery at scale.

EkStep Foundation co-founder and ceo Shankar Maruwada noted that while DPI 1.0 addressed critical welfare needs, the next phase—DPI 2.0—augmented by AI, will help fulfil the aspirations of 1.5 billion Indians. The coming decade, he said, is an opportunity to transform digital public infrastructure into “digital public intelligence.”

The conference brought together policy leaders, technology experts and industry stakeholders to explore how AI and DPI can reinforce governance and public services, advancing India’s mission of becoming a developed nation by 2047.