India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has become the world’s largest real-time payment system, processing more than 2,400 crore transactions every month, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on 25 October. 

The platform now handles nearly 80 crore transactions daily, highlighting the rapid growth of digital payments across the country.

Sitharaman said UPI’s annual transaction volume has increased around 13,000 times since the 2016-17 financial year. According to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI processed approximately 24.07 billion transactions in September 2026, showing the widespread use of digital payments for everyday purchases and money transfers.

The growth of UPI has also supported India’s fintech ecosystem by helping more people access financial services. Sitharaman said digital initiatives are creating opportunities for first-time users to access credit, insurance and investment products.

The finance minister made these remarks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Reserve Bank of India’s new data centre and Cybersecurity Training Institution in Odisha.

The facility will house critical banking systems, including the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) systems. Its training and research facilities will focus on building expertise in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and data centre technologies.

Sitharaman also highlighted the government’s efforts to strengthen digital infrastructure. Data centres received infrastructure status in 2022, while the Union Budget 2026-27 announced a tax holiday for foreign companies providing global cloud services from data centres in India.

The continued expansion of UPI and supporting infrastructure reflects India’s growing reliance on digital payments. Maintaining secure, reliable systems will remain important as transaction volumes and the use of digital financial services continue to rise.

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