India Stack

  • November 29, 2021
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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India Stack

Subject: Science and Tech

Context:

The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, recently highlighted that India is poised to become one of the largest digital markets in the world on the back of an unprecedented 87 per cent fintech adoption rate as against the global average of 64 per cent. He added that the JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) trinity, besides Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT), have brought timely delivery of financial benefits and services, especially in the post-pandemic era.

Concept:

  • India Stack is a set of APIs that allows governments, businesses, startups and developers to utilise an unique digital Infrastructure to solve India’s hard problems towards presence-less, paperless, and cashless service delivery.
  • The Open API team at iSPIRT has been a pro-bono partner in the development, evolution, and evangelisation of these APIs and systems.

The four distinct technology layers provided are

Presenceless layer : Where a universal biometric digital identity allows people to participate in any service from anywhere in the country.

Paperless layer : Where digital records move with an individual’s digital identity, eliminating the need for massive amount of paper collection and storage.

Cashless layer : Where a single interface to all the country’s bank accounts and wallets to democratize payments.

Consent layer : Which allows data to move freely and securely to democratize the market for data.

APIs included in India Stack:

The following APIs are considered to be a core part of the India Stack.

  • Aadhaar Authentication
  • Aadhaar e-KYC
  • eSign
  • Digital Locker
  • Unified Payment Interface (UPI)
  • Digital User Consent – still work in progress.

The following APIs are also considered to be societal platforms built on similar principles like India Stack:

  • GSTN – The Goods and Services Tax Network
  • BBPS – The Bharat Bill Payment System
  • ETC – Electronic Toll Collection (known under the brand FASTag)
  • Utility
  • Citizens : Brings millions of Indians into the formal economy by reducing friction.
  • Software ecosystem : Fosters innovation to build products for financial Inclusion, healthcare & educational services at scale.
  • Government : Brings a paradigm shift in the way government services are delivered in a transparent, accountable and leakage free model.
India Stack Science and tech