PM on World Bank’s praise for India as country gets 75 digital banking units

India has become a leader in ensuring social security through digitisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday, citing the World Bank, after he launched 75 Digital Banking Units (DBUs) across 75 districts in the country. The DBUs will be brick-and-mortar outlets which will provide a variety of digital banking facilities to people, enabling people to have cost-effective, convenient access and enhanced digital experience of banking products and services all year round.

“World Bank says that India has become a leader in ensuring social security through digitisation. Even the most successful people in the field of technology, the experts of the tech world are appreciating this system in India. They too are amazed by its success,” Prime Minister said at the launch event of the DBUs that was attended by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

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Sitharaman said on Saturday that World Bank President David Malpass offered to work with the Modi government to take its successful digitisation efforts to other countries so that they can also benefit from it. “There is not just the World Bank, but every bilateral that I’ve had people have spoken very highly of India’s achievement on the digital side,” she said after she met Malpass at the World Bank headquarters in Washington.

The Union government has introduced digital initiatives in several sectors including payments, education and health.

Recently, the World Bank downgraded India’s GDP or gross domestic product to 6.5% for the fiscal year 2022-23 from an earlier estimate of 7.5%. However, it said India was recovering stronger than the rest of the world and had done well compared to the other countries in South Asia.