India to Launch Platform for Lending to Rural Small Businesses, Says Central Bank Governor – Reuters

MUMBAI (Reuters) – India is set to introduce a new platform designed to streamline credit transfers for small and rural borrowers, addressing the significant unmet demand in various sectors, particularly agriculture and small businesses, as announced by the governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The Unified Lending Interface (ULI), expected to be launched "in due course," aims to reduce the time required for credit assessments and enable a consent-based flow of digital information, according to Shaktikanta Das during a recent event.

Das emphasized that the ULI platform is designed to provide digital access to information from a variety of sources. This initiative follows a pilot launched last year as part of the central bank’s broader efforts to digitize banking services, contributing to India’s position as one of the fastest-growing digital payments markets worldwide.

The governor highlighted several innovations, including digital wallets, mobile banking, and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which allows users to transfer money between bank accounts through mobile devices.

"Just as UPI revolutionized the payments landscape, we anticipate that ULI will similarly transform the lending sector in India," Das stated.