Centre, RBI Push ULI to Revolutionise Credit Access
24 Jun 2025 CW Team
The Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance, held a high-level meeting in New Delhi to advance the implementation of the Unified Lending Interface (ULI), a technology-driven initiative aimed at making seamless credit accessible across India. The meeting was co-chaired by Shri M. Nagaraju, Secretary, DFS, and Shri T. Rabi Sankar, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and attended by senior representatives from various Central ministries, State governments, the RBI, and the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub.
ULI is being developed as a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in the lending domain, aiming to unify technology, policy, and data to simplify and democratise credit access. Drawing parallels to how the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) reshaped digital payments, officials stated that ULI could redefine credit distribution by enabling faster, more inclusive lending, especially for underserved segments of society.
Secretary Nagaraju emphasised the transformative potential of the ULI. He highlighted that high-quality, trusted datasets held by ministries and state departments—if integrated with ULI—could empower lenders to make data-driven credit decisions more efficiently. He further urged for existing similar schemes to be synergised with ULI to build a unified, resilient national credit ecosystem without losing their unique identities.
Deputy Governor Rabi Sankar reiterated RBI’s commitment to innovation in the credit sector and described ULI as a potentially more disruptive force than UPI. He called on ministries and state governments to approach the project as a collaborative and ongoing engagement and to actively contribute relevant datasets to maximise ULI’s impact.
The meeting concluded with key commitments from all stakeholders:
- Digitally integrate high-value datasets from Central and State governments with ULI.
- Nominate nodal officers to coordinate the integration of data systems.
- Accelerate digitisation of land and other public records at the state level.
- Align parallel lending initiatives with ULI to establish a cohesive, technology-driven credit delivery framework.
The ULI is central to the government’s broader vision of digital empowerment, financial inclusion, and efficient last-mile service delivery. As development progresses, it is expected to become a cornerstone in modernising India’s lending infrastructure and driving equitable access to credit.