The CDPG team met with Mr. Ajay Rajan, CEO of Protean eGov Technologies, on 24 June 2026. Drawing on his extensive experience leading critical digital transformation initiatives in the banking sector, Mr. Rajan offered a candid and forward-looking assessment of India’s DPI trajectory.
Mr. Rajan argued that India’s model of public rails and private innovation has driven value creation at an unprecedented scale, but that success metrics must now evolve: DPI should no longer be judged by transaction volumes or user numbers alone, but by its ability to generate meaningful inclusion, reduce friction, create new markets, strengthen resilience and trust, and improve citizens’ lives. He identified consent-driven data sharing, digital credentialing, multilingual access, sector-specific focus, and AI-enabled orchestration as the defining pillars of DPI 2.0, a vision of multiple DPIs integrated into seamless ecosystems delivering personalised services. He also stressed the need to bring MSMEs into focus, with operational data unlocking credit and financial inclusion, and called for greater cross-ministry interoperability through platforms such as ULI and Bharat TradeNet.