India’s UPI usage presents a value versus volume dilemma : Dr. R. Srinivasan

In their recent article for Forbes India, From Digital Reach to Digital Depth: Dissecting India’s UPI Usage by State and Merchant Category, Dr. R. Srinivasan, Chairperson of the Centre for Digital Public Goods (CDPG) and Professor of Strategy at IIM Bangalore, and Dr. M. Balakrishnan, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre, unpack the story behind UPI’s headline numbers.

While UPI processed an unprecedented 18.4 billion transactions in June 2025 alone, the authors argue that true progress lies not just in scale, but in inclusivity and balanced development.