From Cash Economy to Digital Economy: The Role of Digital Payments in Advancing Viksit Bharat@2047

Abstract

The growth in cashless payments and digitalisation of the Indian currency is indeed leading India's growth. Moving towards digital payments actually transforms the transactions made by individuals, business and institutions thus rendering them more convenient, more accessible, more transparent and more systematic. As the country is moving towards building a Viksit Bharat@2047, the significance of digital payments will be the same, as the instruments to drive the sustainable and inclusive economic growth, technological development and also digitalise the economy. The research paper discusses the role digital payments play in meeting India's development aspirations by focusing on how digital payments help build financial inclusion, enable the payments system to function more efficiently, help in retail trade (e-commerce) and reduction in cash use. The study makes uses of the existing data and studies in the field of the digital payments market in India, and looks at the whole range of aspects from policy and infrastructure, to usage trends of digital payments. The paper refers to not only the technological improvement but also digital payments being a key to connect, transparent and a strong economy. But it's important to note here that there are few challenges like low digital literacy; cyber security, infrastructure and accessibility to many areas which could be an obstacle in building an inclusive digital economy. For digital payments to be a club of India's journey from Bharat to Viksit Bharat by 2047, there needs to be an ongoing regulatory and infrastructure support for digital payments, improved user awareness and security in digital payments.