Interesting facts about Digital India: Aadhaar, UPI and DigiLocker
Digital India began on 1 July 2015. How Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, BharatNet and Common Service Centres changed everyday life — with the numbers behind them.
Rohit Tandon · 10 October 2026 · 3 min read
Today even the tea stall in a village takes payment by QR code, government certificates live in our phones, and information on everything from rations to pensions is a click away. The biggest name behind this change is Digital India. Here is what the programme is, when it began and what has made it talked about around the world.
What is Digital India?
Digital India is the Government of India's flagship programme, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 1 July 2015. Its aim is to turn the country into a "digitally empowered society and knowledge economy". It is run by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The programme has three main goals:
- digital infrastructure for every citizen — internet, mobile and identity;
- government services on demand, online and quickly;
- making people digitally literate and capable.
For these goals the programme was divided into "nine pillars" — such as broadband highways, mobile connectivity everywhere, e-governance, e-Kranti (electronic delivery of services), information for all, and electronics manufacturing.
The big names of Digital India
| Service | Began | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Aadhaar | 2010 (first number) | A 12-digit biometric identity; held by more than 130 crore people |
| UPI | 2016 | Instant, free bank-to-bank payments from a mobile |
| DigiLocker | 2015 | Digital copies of documents such as marksheets and driving licences |
| UMANG app | 2017 | Hundreds of central and state services in one app |
| BharatNet | From 2011 (National Optical Fibre Network) | Fast internet up to gram panchayats |
Did you know? The first Aadhaar number was given on 29 September 2010 to Ranjana Sonawane of Tembhli village in Maharashtra's Nandurbar district.
UPI: an example for the world
Built by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI is now the backbone of digital payments in India. In 2025, more than 1,500 crore (15 billion) transactions a month were made through UPI. India has the largest share of the world's real-time digital payments, and UPI payments now also work in countries such as Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, France, Bhutan, Nepal and Mauritius. The NPCI publishes the monthly figures on its website. Read the full story of UPI in a separate article later this month.
Reaching the villages
- Common Service Centres (CSCs): run in villages, these centres offer bill payments, banking, insurance, certificates and applications for government schemes. There are more than 5 lakh (500,000) of them across the country.
- Jan Dhan–Aadhaar–Mobile ("JAM"): linking bank accounts, Aadhaar and mobile numbers lets government help go straight into the beneficiary's account (Direct Benefit Transfer), cutting leakage on the way.
- Digital literacy: under the "Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan" (PMGDISHA), rural families were taught to use computers and smartphones.
The challenges are real too
Digital India has made a lot of things easier, but the road ahead is still long. The gap in internet speed between village and city, the difficulty of technology for older and less-educated people, and online fraud are big challenges. So every citizen should know the basic rules of cyber safety — never share an OTP, do not click unknown links, and if you are cheated, complain at once on the national cyber crime helpline, 1930.
Read where India's computer journey began in India's first computer. To understand its effect on the economy, read The world's largest economies.
Key points
- Digital India was launched on 1 July 2015.
- It is run by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
- Its three main goals are digital infrastructure, online government services and digital literacy.
- Aadhaar, UPI and DigiLocker are its biggest names.
- It has reached deeper into villages, but challenges such as the digital divide and cyber fraud remain.
Frequently asked questions
When did Digital India begin?
On 1 July 2015. The programme completed ten years on 1 July 2025.
How many pillars does Digital India have?
Nine — broadband highways, mobile connectivity, public internet access, e-governance, e-Kranti, information for all, electronics manufacturing, IT for jobs and "early harvest" programmes.
Read more: Interesting facts · Test yourself: Economy questions.
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