Fin min, RBI meet govt officials on scaling up Unified Lending Interface

On 23rd June 2025, the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance (MoF) held a high-level meeting at New Delhi, on scaling up Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) latest Digital Lending Infrastructure Unified Lending Interface (ULI).

• This meeting was co-chaired by Shri M. Nagaraju, Secretary, DFS and Shri T. Rabi Sankar, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• The meeting saw participation from senior officials of central and state governments, the RBI, and the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH).

About ULI:

i.ULI is an Application Programme Interface (API) based, consent-driven platform that enables seamless, secure access to authenticated borrower data such as Aadhaar, land records, tax filings, and KYC (Know Your Customer) from multiple sources by Banks and Financial Institutions (FI).

• This platform enables banks, Non-Bank Financial Companies (NBFCs), and fintechs to appraise and disburse loans faster and more efficiently, especially for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSMEs), farmers, and underserved borrowers.

ii.ULI is a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for the credit market developed by RBIH and co-conceptualized with the RBI.

• It was announced by the former RBI governor Shri Shaktikanta Das at RBI 90@ Global Conference on August 26,2024.

iii.ULI aggregates data from various sources to streamline the lending process. Key data sources include land records, GSTN data, milk pouring insights, satellite data, and authentication & verification services like Aadhaar e-KYC and PAN validation.

• It also integrates with Account Aggregators to consolidate digital financial information and Digilocker for access to verified documents. Additionally, ULI consolidates property data and analytics for housing loan underwriting.

Key Highlights of the meeting:

i.The need to fast-track ULI arises due to persistent credit bottlenecks for MSMEs, which account for nearly 30% of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but still continue to face delays and rejections due to lack of collateral and complex documentation.

• As per a 2025 report by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), India’s MSMEs face a credit shortfall of nearly Rs.30 lakh crore.
• With the use of this ULI, the RBIH aims to make credit delivery more frictionless, inclusive, and efficient.

ii.The high-level meeting concluded with the following key resolutions:

• Digitally integrate high-value government datasets (from Central and State Ministries) with the Unified Lending Interface (ULI).
• Nominate nodal officers from all stakeholders to coordinate and fast-track data integration with ULI.
• State governments to prioritise digitisation and linkage of land and other key records with ULI.
• Align existing lending initiatives to create a unified credit delivery ecosystem, with ULI as the central platform.