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Medium Factual Recall

Internationalization of Indian Digital Public Infrastructure

Deconstruct Internationalization of Indian Digital Public Infrastructure using previous year trends.

Official Question UPSC 2025

Consider the following countries: I. United Arab Emirates II. France III. Germany IV. Singapore V. Bangladesh How many countries amongst the above are there other than India where international merchant payments are accepted under UPI?

Solution & Analysis

Answer: B
According to updates from NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), the global footprint of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is expanding, specifically targeting high-traffic tourist and remittance corridors.
•I. United Arab Emirates (Correct): UPI is operational in the UAE, allowing Indian tourists to make merchant payments via partnerships with local payment gateways like Mashreq.
•II. France (Correct): France became a flagship European adopter, allowing UPI merchant payments at major tourist attractions (notably the Eiffel Tower) via the Lyra network.
•IV. Singapore (Correct): Singapore has deeply integrated with India (the UPI-PayNow linkage), supporting both real-time remittances and cross-border merchant payments.
•III. Germany & V. Bangladesh (Incorrect): As of the current official rollout, comprehensive merchant payment acceptance via UPI is not yet operational in these two countries.
Therefore, exactly three of the listed countries currently support UPI merchant payments.

Quick Recall

India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is expanding globally through NPCI International. Among the listed nations, merchant payments via UPI are officially operational in France, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates.

Concept Flow Mapping

UPI
Accepted In
France
UPI
Accepted In
Singapore
UPI
Accepted In
United Arab Emirates

Concept Question

Name three major countries outside India where UPI is currently accepted for merchant payments.

Key Takeaway

France, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Examiner's Trap

Candidates might assume neighboring Bangladesh would adopt it first due to proximity, or that an economic powerhouse like Germany would have integrated it. The rollout, however, has specifically targeted nations with high Indian tourist footfall (France/UAE) or deep remittance corridors (Singapore).

Core Insight

It reduces dependency on Western payment gateways (like Visa/Mastercard) and the SWIFT network, lowers the cost of cross-border remittances for the Indian diaspora, and projects India's 'soft power' as a global leader in Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).

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