DPI Brief — March 21, 2026
Today’s DPI Updates (7 Layers)
L1: Identity & Authentication
[Aadhaar, eKYC]
No significant updates reported in the last 24 hours from UIDAI or eKYC services.
L2: Payments & Financial Rails
[UPI, NPCI, RuPay]
India’s Digital Economy to Reach 20% of GDP by 2030
India’s digital economy is projected to account for nearly 20% of the country’s GDP by 2030, driven by a growth rate that is double that of the broader economy. Speaking at Nasscom Global Confluence 2026, MeitY Secretary S Krishnan stated that the digital economy—encompassing IT, IT-enabled services, and the electronics sector—currently contributes about 13% to India’s GDP. This upward trajectory will be accelerated by increased adoption of Artificial Intelligence across sectors. 1
Mastercard Unveils AI Engine for Payments
Mastercard has developed a transaction-specific AI model to detect fraud, enhance loyalty programmes, and deliver personalized payment experiences. The company plans to expand the model’s training to include additional payment transactions and diverse datasets encompassing merchant location, fraud patterns, authorisation data, and chargeback information. This development signals the growing role of AI in next-generation payment infrastructure. 2
L3: Documents & Data Exchange
[DigiLocker, API Setu, eSign]
No significant updates reported in the last 24 hours.
L4: Commerce & Logistics
[ONDC, GeM]
ONDC Expands to 616+ Cities with 7.64 Lakh Sellers
The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) continues its rapid expansion, now covering over 616 cities with more than 7.64 lakh (764,000) sellers onboarded. The platform processes approximately 16 million orders monthly across diverse domains including food, grocery, fashion, electronics, healthcare, and logistics. ONDC aims to democratize e-commerce by enabling diverse players to participate and collaborate effectively, promoting digital inclusion for businesses of all sizes. 3
L5: Sectoral Infrastructure
[ABHA, AgriStack, eCourts]
India AI Mission: Compute Infrastructure at Subsidized Rates
Under the India AI Mission, AI compute infrastructure is now being provided to domestic innovators, entrepreneurs, and researchers at one-third of prevailing market prices. Additionally, over 10,000 datasets and homegrown AI models have been made available. MeitY Secretary S Krishnan emphasized that India has created a model for applying AI research to Digital Public Infrastructure to foster scalable and affordable options for the world. 1
L6: Governance & Grievance
[DARPG, CPGRAMS]
No significant updates reported in the last 24 hours.
L7: Security, Privacy & Trust
[CERT-In, DPDP, TRAI]
India Signs DPI MoUs with 53+ Nations
India has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with over 53 nations to support the worldwide expansion of its successful Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) model. These agreements span countries across the Global South, as well as several nations in Europe and Russia. This positions India as a leader in exporting DPI solutions globally. 1
Google Patches Two Actively Exploited Chrome Zero-Days
Google released security updates for Chrome addressing two high-severity vulnerabilities (CVE impacts) that have been exploited in the wild. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) added both vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on March 13, 2026, requiring federal agencies to apply fixes by March 27, 2026. Organizations are advised to update Chrome immediately. 4
Critical Telnetd Vulnerability Disclosed
A critical security flaw (CVE-2026-32746) impacting the GNU InetUtils telnet daemon (telnetd) enables unauthenticated remote attackers to execute arbitrary code with root privileges. In the absence of a patch, organizations are advised to disable the service if not necessary, run telnetd without root privileges, and block port 23 at network perimeter levels. This follows another critical flaw (CVE-2026-24061, CVSS 9.8) disclosed nearly two months ago that remains under active exploitation. 5