India's Finternet To Go Live In 2026, Using AI And Tokenisation: Nandan Nilekani

Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani said India's ongoing digital public infrastructure project, Finternet, is expected to go live in 2026, leveraging technologies such as artificial intelligence and tokenisation of assets.

The project aims to bring various assets, including land, property, bonds, and other financial investments under a single infrastructure where they can be tokenised.

"This is an idea which is going global, whether it's in India, Singapore, New York, San Francisco, or in Switzerland. You can see the gradual expansion of what’s happening, and we think, in 2026, we will be live," the Business Standard quoted Nilekani as saying.

He emphasised the need to implement tokenisation within regulatory frameworks, at a time when most global initiatives in this space have been linked to cryptocurrencies. "A lot of the noise in the tokenisation world has been cryptocurrencies and other things, which are outside the regulatory framework. But what we're suggesting is using tokenisation inside the regulatory framework, embedded compliance, but unlocking the potential of tokenised assets," he added.

Nilekani noted that building such digital public infrastructures draws on experience in scaling systems reliably while working with regulators.

"We have now seen an increasing interest in using this technology and a combination of tokenisation and AI to get something done. But Finternet is a way of doing this strategically, holistically, (and) in a structured way for all kinds of assets, high performance, within a regulatory envelope," he explained.

He also highlighted the need to improve cross-border payments, noting that India remains the largest recipient of inward remittances globally.

Reflecting on the broader impact of DPIs, Nilekani said, "All the DPI that we have done in the last 15 years has not only led to individual agency but also empowered institutions. A big part of the economic activity you see today is streamlined because of that. Account aggregator, for example, is a good example of public-private partnership."