DPI Brief — July 05, 2026

1. NPCI Teams Up with HSBC & JP Morgan to Simplify International UPI Payments [L2 — Payments]

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on July 1 signed separate partnerships with HSBC India and J.P. Morgan Payments to make international UPI payments smoother and more transparent. The collaborations introduce real-time foreign exchange (FX) conversion and settlement for international transactions, allowing Indian travellers to see the exact amount in rupees before making a UPI payment abroad. This is a significant step toward reducing friction in cross-border retail payments and strengthening the global interoperability of UPI rails. With these partnerships, NPCI is layering institutional-grade FX infrastructure on top of the UPI network, moving beyond bilateral linkages to a more scalable model for international expansion.

Sources: Business Standard via Tribune India, Moneycontrol

2. UPI Goes Live in Greece — Now Operational in 10 Countries [L2 — Payments]

Adding another country to its rapidly growing international footprint, UPI has gone live in Greece after Eurobank launched a UPI-based remittance service for cross-border transfers from Greece to India. The initiative, enabled through NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), allows seamless and low-cost money transfers using UPI rails. UPI is now available across 10 countries — Singapore, UAE, Nepal, Bhutan, Mauritius, France, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and now Greece — in various forms from merchant QR payments to cross-border remittances. NPCI’s June 2026 data shows UPI processing over 22 billion transactions (23% YoY growth) worth ₹28 lakh crore, with a daily average of 757 million transactions.

Sources: Moneycontrol, The Researchers

3. Digital India Turns 11: ONDC Scales to 20 Crore Buyers, 90 Lakh Monthly Transactions [L4 — Commerce]

India marked the 11th anniversary of Digital India on July 1, 2026, with the government releasing updated scale figures across the entire DPI stack. The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has emerged as one of the standout success stories — scaling to over 20 crore buyers, 5 lakh sellers, presence in 1,000 cities, and nearly 90 lakh monthly transactions by June 2026. The network is growing 2-3x faster than traditional e-commerce, with only a 3% commission rate compared to 15-25% on incumbent platforms. India’s DPI model is also gaining international traction: Indonesia is now deploying UPI, ONDC-inspired commerce networks, and other digital infrastructure adapted from India’s stack, marking what could be the first large-scale international adoption of India’s DPI architecture in a major emerging economy.

Sources: PIB, Hindustan Times, Vedadots

4. CG Semi OSAT Facility Inaugurated in Sanand — India’s Semiconductor Push Accelerates [L7 — Trust / Industrial Policy]

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 4 inaugurated the CG Semi Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility in Sanand, Gujarat — a ₹7,500 crore ($870 million) plant that begins commercial production as the third semiconductor packaging facility under the India Semiconductor Mission. The facility will initially package 200 million chips per year, scaling to 500 million, and joins Micron and Kaynes Semicon in making Sanand India’s first semiconductor packaging cluster. Modi described it as “the next step in the electronics revolution,” noting India’s progression from products to components to semiconductors. Over 75 engineers relocated from the Philippines, South Korea, the US, and Malaysia to build the facility, underscoring the convergence of global expertise and India’s young manufacturing workforce.

Sources: PM India, TNW, BusinessLine

5. NPS Trust Issues RFP for DPDP Compliance Review — Data Protection Board Imminent [L7 — Trust]

The National Pension System (NPS) Trust on July 2 issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for engagement of a consultant to review its roles and responsibilities under the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023. This signals that government entities are actively preparing for enforcement, which is expected to begin once the Data Protection Board of India (DPBI) is constituted — projected for late 2026. With penalties up to ₹250 crore for non-compliance, the DPDP Act is beginning to have real regulatory teeth. The NPS Trust RFP is a bellwether: if India’s largest pension system is commissioning DPDP compliance reviews, smaller data fiduciaries should be accelerating their own preparedness. Meanwhile, TRAI’s AI-driven anti-spam directions and expanded telecom cybersecurity rules under the Telecommunications Act 2023 continue to add layers to India’s trust infrastructure.

Sources: NPS Trust RFP, Kensara AI Enforcement Tracker, RingSafe TRAI/DoT Guide

Layers covered: L2 (Payments), L4 (Commerce), L7 (Trust/Policy) Sources: PIB, NPCI, PM India, Hindustan Times, Tribune India, Moneycontrol, TNW, BusinessLine, NPS Trust