India spearheads life transforming innovations: Minister

From UPI to ONDC, India’s innovations are not about technology for technology’s sake, they are about transforming lives, said Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development, Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, on Thursday.

Addressing the 'International AI Summit' organised on the sidelines of ‘India Mobile Congress 2025’ here, the minister highlighted how digital technologies are reshaping everyday life.

He noted that UPI has made seamless payments universal, ONDC has opened e-commerce oppor-tunities for small sellers, and AI-powered alert systems saved over 500,000 lives during the 2024 Kerala floods.

Citing the Department of Telecommunications’ AI-driven Fraud Risk Indicator, which blocked 4.8 million scams and prevented losses of Rs 140 crore, he said these innovations exemplify how India uses AI to empower, protect, and uplift its people.

Dr Pemmasani also cautioned against its unchecked risks.