Aadhaar helped Indian govt save $9 billion: Nandan Nilekani

The Modi government's Aadhaar card scheme has helped the exchequer save about USD 9 billion by eliminating fraud in beneficiary lists, its architect Nandan Nilekani said on Thursday.

"It has saved the government about USD 9 billion in fraud and wastage because by having that unique number you eliminate fakes and duplicates from your beneficiary and employee list," Nilekani said at the event on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

"We have about half a billion people who have connected their ID directly to a bank account. The government has transferred about USD 12 billion into bank accounts electronically in real time to the world's largest cash transfer system. There are many many things like that.

"I'm a big believer that if you build the right digital infrastructure then you can leapfrog," Nilekani, the former chairman of Unique Identity Development Authority of India (UIDAI), said.

In the new world of data economy, identity authentication, frictionless payments, paperless transactions these are all very important layers of the new digital economy. That is what India has done, he said.

Encouraging the government's digital push, he said that India is the only country in the world where a billion people can do completely paperless, cashless transactions on their mobile phones using this infrastructure which dramatically reduces costs.

"Once you bring cost down, automatically inclusion happens," Nilekani said, adding that there is a fundamental strategic way of looking at it.

"When the internet happened in the West in the last 15 years... The West was economically rich before they became data rich," he said.

But in developing countries people have become data rich before they become economically rich, Nilekani said.

"So in a society where per capita income is USD 1500 and you are data rich, the business model is how do we create an architecture where individuals and businesses are able to trade in their data to improve their lives. That is the heart of the question.

"If I as a consumer can use my data to get better loans, better education, better jobs and better skills, and if we can get a billion people to get access to that they will use data as the ladder to improve their lives," he added.