Lok Sabha Question No. 6119 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-04-01
Subject: Access of Private Companies to Digital Public Infrastructure
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Shri Rajesh Ranjan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 6119

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 01.04.2026

## ACCESS OF PRIVATE COMPANIES TO DIGITAL PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE

## † 6119. SHRI RAJESH RANJAN:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of private companies granted access to Government digital public infrastructure platforms during each of the last five years, platform-wise;
- (b) the number of agreements, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) or partnerships entered into with such companies and the reasons cited in the Ministry's review for permitting private access to digital public infrastructure;
- (c) the number of complaints and representations received regarding data security, consent and misuse of digital public infrastructure by private companies, State-wise particularly for the State of Bihar;
- (d) the key findings of monitoring, audit and security assessment reports relating to safeguards governing private access to public digital platforms; and
- (e)  the  regulatory,  contractual  and  oversight  measures  introduced  to  ensure  accountability, transparency and protection of citizen's data in such partnerships?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA)

(a) to (e): In line with Hon'ble Prime Minister's vision to democratize technology and empower citizens, the Government of India launched the Digital India programme in July 2015.

The  programme  focuses  on  expanding  digital  access,  internet  affordability,  digital  public infrastructure and digital literacy.

## India's DPI approach

The Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) approach is a key pillar of this programme. It enables the  delivery  of  digital  services  at  population  scale  through  open,  interoperable  and  secure platforms.

India has established an interconnected ecosystem of data and digital infrastructure platforms, integrating government platforms with startups, private enterprises, and other entities within the DPI ecosystem. Platforms such as Aadhar, UPI, DigiLocker, etc are shining examples of the same.

This  enables  entities,  including  private  ones  to  innovate  and  enhance  business  models,  by facilitating their onboarding to such digital platforms.

Several  start-ups  and  entities  access  the  Digital  Public  Infrastructure  (DPI)  like  Aadhaar, Unified  Payments  Interface  (UPI),  DigiLocker  and  other  data  platforms  through  regulated frameworks.

(i)  Aadhaar stands as a cornerstone of secure, consent-driven digital identity. Through robust API-based authentication and e-KYC services, it enables real-time, trusted identity verification at scale, thereby powering seamless, paperless, and efficient service delivery across sectors. A total of 105 private Requesting Entities (RE) have been onboarded since 2021 to perform Aadhaar authentication for delivery of various user services. Further, during FY 2025-26, 71 private entities have been registered as Offline Verification Seeking Entity (OVSE) on Aadhar app.

(ii)    DigiLocker  has  provided  anytime  access  to  authentic  digital  documents  from  original issuer for the common citizen. More than 68.11+ crore users are registered with DigiLocker to avail its services and more than 950+ crore documents issued from 2512 Issuers and 3443 Requesters onboarded on the platform.

(iii)    UPI  exemplifies  sector-specific  data  access.  Finance  and  Payments  data  are  made available through APIs linked to the Unified Payments Interface ecosystem, thereby enabling fintech innovation at scale. This platform serves 6.5 crore merchants, and connects 694 banks on one platform, making it the world's largest digital payment system.

(iv)   AIKosh under IndiaAI Mission is a sovereign AI-artefact hub offering pre-trained AI models  and  datasets  across  sectors  such  as  agriculture,  healthcare,  education,  governance, environment and finance. These models and other features of AIKosh can be accessed from www.aikosh.com.

(v)   Open Government Data (OGD) Platform / Bharat Data Platform (data.gov.in) provides open access to government datasets under the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP). It is the largest repository of open government data in India, promoting transparency and public participation.

The platform provides about 4.54 lakh datasets and 2.36 lakh APIs, covering a wide range of sectors like agriculture, health, education, transport, energy, environment and governance.

(vi)  National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP) is a platform developed by NITI Aayog which aggregates and standardises datasets from multiple ministries into a single platform. It makes  government  data  more  comparable  and  accessible  for  researchers,  startups,  and policymakers to support evidence-based decisions.

It hosts around 6362 datasets across 31 sectors and 53 ministries. It provides standardized and interoperable datasets in areas such as economy, health, education, labour and infrastructure. These datasets are available for access at https://ndap.niti.gov.in.

(vii)    Ayushman  Bharat  Digital  Mission  maintains  health  record  data  and  enables  sharing through digital health exchanges, alongside Aadhaar-based identity and authentication APIs. This forms the backbone of India's health data infrastructure by creating an integrated digital health ecosystem, rather than publishing open datasets.

While  OGD provides  the  largest  volume  of  open  data,  NDAP  enhances  usability  through standardization,  AIKosh  supports  AI  innovation,  UPI  supports  fintech  growth  and  ABDM builds a secure health data infrastructure.

Together,  these  platforms  reflect  India's  strategy  of  building  open,  federated,  and  sectorspecific data infrastructure to power AI development, public service delivery, and research.

These systems enable secure, seamless, and trusted interactions among citizens, businesses, and governments. The architecture is designed to drive innovation, enhance transparency, and deliver efficient, citizen-centric public services through open, regulated, and sector-specific access frameworks.

Indian legal and regulatory frameworks also exist to prevent its misuse in this regard include Digital  Personal  Data  Protection  Act  2023,  Information  Technology  Act  2000  and  sectorspecific guidelines from regulators like UIDAI, RBI, etc.

Complaints related to unauthorized access to personal data, fraudulent financial transactions and  data  scraping  are  handled  by  sector  regulators  (e.g.,  banking,  telecom),  National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in), CERT-In and platform-specific grievance systems.

Comprehensive security audit has been done for the data.gov.in portal. UIDAI also conducts periodic audits of its systems.

UIDAI has implemented a three-tier audit framework, comprising the Self-Compliance Audit, the Information Security Annual Audit, and the GRCP (Governance, Risk, Compliance, and Privacy) Audit, for entities in the Aadhaar Authentication Ecosystem.

Similarly, internal reviews and security audits are conducted by other concerned organizations like banks and Ministries/Departments. These audits periodically examine issues relating to consent architecture, data retention and security safeguards, and necessary improvements are subsequently undertaken to fill the gaps.

The different types of penalties include financial penalties for data misuse, suspension of API access, revocation of platform licenses and criminal penalties in severe cases. For example, the DPDP Act introduces significant financial penalties for data breaches or non-compliance.

The safeguards consist of mandatory user consent, purpose limitation (data used only for stated purpose), data minimisation, security safeguards and encryption and independent audits.

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