Relevance: GS III (Economy / Science-Tech – AI & Indigenization) | Source: Economic Survey / The Hindu
1. The Context: A Digital Revolution
India has pioneered a unique model called Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).
- Think of it this way: Just as roads and rails move people, DPI is a set of shared digital “highways” that move money, information, and trust at a population scale.
- The Goal: To make essential services (banking, health, identity) open, low-cost, and accessible to the poorest citizen.
2. The Core Architecture: “India Stack”
India’s DPI is built on three foundational layers:
- Identity (Presence-less): Anchored by Aadhaar, allowing you to prove “I am who I claim to be” digitally, without visiting a government office.
- Payments (Cash-less): Led by UPI, moving money instantly between any two bank accounts.
- Data (Consent-based): Led by DigiLocker and Account Aggregators, allowing you to share your data (like medical records or bank statements) securely to get loans or services.
3. Sectoral Shifts (DPI 2.0)
DPI is now moving beyond just payments into critical sectors:
- Commerce (ONDC): The Open Network for Digital Commerce aims to break the monopoly of big e-commerce giants. It allows small kirana stores to be visible to buyers on any app, democratizing trade.
- Health (ABDM): The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission creates a unique Health ID (ABHA), allowing patients to share medical history with doctors instantly (with consent).
- Credit (OCEN): The Open Credit Enablement Network allows small businesses to get short-term loans based on their cash flow (daily earnings) rather than needing physical collateral (assets like land/gold).
4. The New Frontier: “DPI + AI”
The next phase is combining DPI with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to solve complex problems.
- The India AI Mission: The Cabinet approved a ₹10,372 crore mission to build “Sovereign Compute Capacity”.
- Why? AI needs massive computing power (GPUs). The government will build this infrastructure so Indian startups can use it cheaply instead of renting expensive servers from foreign tech giants.
- Bhashini (The Language Layer): An AI-led translation platform.
- Impact: It allows a farmer speaking Tamil to talk to a Hindi-speaking buyer, or use a banking app via Voice Commands. This bridges the “Digital Divide” for the illiterate.
- Agriculture (AgriStack): Uses AI on top of land records to give farmers customized advice (e.g., “Pests are attacking your crop type, spray this medicine”) via chatbots like Kisan e-Mitra.
UPSC Value Box
| Concept / Term | Relevance for Prelims |
| India Stack | A set of open APIs (digital bridges) that allow government and businesses to use this infrastructure. It enables Presence-less, Paperless, and Cashless service delivery. |
| Sovereign AI | The strategic idea that India must own its own AI infrastructure (Data Centers & Models) rather than depending on foreign companies, ensuring data security and strategic autonomy. |
| DPI vs Private Tech | Unlike private platforms (like Facebook/Google) which are “Walled Gardens” (closed systems), DPIs are open and interoperable (different apps can talk to each other, like PhonePe talking to Paytm via UPI). |
With reference to the “India AI Mission” and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), consider the following statements:
- The India AI Mission aims to establish a sovereign computing capacity of over 10,000 GPUs for the use of domestic startups and researchers.
- “Bhashini” is an AI-driven initiative focused on creating a unified payment interface for foreign travelers.
- The “AgriStack” uses DPI principles to create a digital registry of farmers and land records.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 1 and 3 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Correct Answer: (b)
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