India to Launch Platform for Lending to Rural and Small Businesses

India is set to launch a platform designed to extend credit to small and rural borrowers, addressing the significant unmet demand across various sectors, particularly in agriculture and small enterprises, according to the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday.

The Unified Lending Interface (ULI), which is expected to be introduced “in due course,” aims to reduce the time required for credit assessment for these borrowers and facilitate a consent-based digital flow of information, stated Shaktikanta Das at an event.

The Governor mentioned that the ULI platform will ensure digital access to information from multiple sources, thereby enhancing the lending process.

A pilot project for this initiative was launched last year as part of the central bank’s efforts to digitize banking services, which have positioned India as one of the fastest-growing digital payment markets globally.

These initiatives include digital wallets, mobile banking, and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which allows users to transfer money between bank accounts using a mobile device.

“Just as UPI has revolutionized the payments ecosystem, we expect ULI to play a similar role in transforming the credit market in India,” said Das.