India embraces cashless revolution in last 11 years: FM

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that India is embracing a cashless revolution with world-class digital initiatives like unified payments interface (UPI). In the last 11 years, India has seen a remarkable journey under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the finance minister said on a post on X. “India is embracing a cashless revolution. With Rs 70,000 crore+ worth UPI transactions daily and 59.6 crore transactions in a single day, digital payments are now the norm,” the minister added. From making life easier for the common citizen to boosting business confidence, it’s been a decade of real and visible change, she further stated. India today is not just the fastest-growing major economy, but also a key global voice on pressing issues like climate action and digital innovation. In the month of May, UPI posted a robust growth by processing 18.68 billion transactions, up from 17.89 billion in April. As per data by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the UPI transactions mark a 33 per cent year-on-year (YoY) surge compared to 14.03 billion transactions in the same month last year. The UPI transactions rose to Rs 25.14 lakh crore (by value) last month, a 5 per cent increase from Rs 23.95 lakh crore in April. This reflects a 23 per cent rise from Rs 20.45 lakh crore in May last year. The average daily transaction volume stood at 602 million, while the average daily transaction value reached Rs 81,106 crore. The UPI has strengthened its dominance in India’s digital payments system with its share in the total transaction volume rising to 83.7 per cent in 2024-25 from 79.7 per cent in the previous financial year. The RBI’s annual report shows that UPI facilitated 185.8 billion transactions during 2024-25, which represents a 41 per cent year-on-year increase. In value terms, rose to Rs 261 lakh crore from Rs 200 lakh crore in FY24. @@@@