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Finance Ministry, RBI discuss scaling up unified lending interface
The finance ministry together with Reserve Bank held a meeting with various stakeholders, including state government representative to deliberate on ways to scale up Unified Lending Interface (ULI).
ULI is a new digital public infrastructure (DPI) designed to streamline the lending process, similar to UPI in the payment space. It is a technology platform built to facilitate easy access to authenticated data from various sources, through standardised APIs to which all lenders can connect seamlessly through a plug and play' model.
Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju and RBI Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar co-chaired a meeting with officials from various ministries/departments of Government of India and state governments on scaling up ULI, the finance ministry said in a post on X.
ULI is envisioned as a DPI for credit delivery designed to integrate technology, data, and policy into one seamless platform, Nagaraju said during the meeting which saw participation of senior officials of 13 departments and 11 state governments, among others.
During the meeting, the RBI Deputy Governor highlighted that ULI is a DPI of national importance and urged the participants for onboarding their datasets on the platform to tap into its potential, it said.
Nagaraju urged the stakeholders to nominate nodal officers for fast-tracking the integration of government datasets with ULI in order to make ULI India's next UPI on the credit side.
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Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
Fin min, RBI meet govt officials on scaling up Unified Lending Interface
M. Nagaraju, secretary, department of financial services (DFS) and officials of the Reserve Bank of India on Monday held a meeting with officials from various ministries and departments of the Union and state governments on scaling up the planned Unified Lending Interface (ULI). ULI is an online platform that provides consent-based financial and non-financial data of borrowers from multiple service providers to lenders. The main aim of ULI is to support micro, small and medium enterprises. Currently, ULI is in its testing phase and its nationwide launch is awaited. Participants at the meeting, called by the finance ministry, included senior officials from 13 ministries and Departments of the Union government, 11 state governments, RBIH (Reserve Bank Innovation Hub) RBI and DFS. Nagaraju said ULI is envisioned as a digital public infrastructure for credit delivery—designed to integrate technology, data, and policy into one seamless platform. He also urged stakeholders to nominate nodal officers for fast-tracking the integration of government datasets with ULI in order to make ULI India's next UPI on the credit side. This unified interface is expected to reduce paperwork and time spent in the lending process. The platform would provide borrowers with data on a unified platform and help speed up loan approvals by reducing the time taken in data collection from multiple sources. ULI will allow lenders to access the financial and non-financial data of customers including land records, credit scores, etc through a consent-based system. This platform will collect the data from multiple sources in a single place. The main objective of ULI is to speed up the loan approval process by providing easy data access to lenders. It will be helpful for borrowers seeking quick loan approvals and lenders who need financial and non-financial data of borrowers for quick verification.

Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
RBI relaxes PSL norms to help SFBs de-risk, diversify loan portfolio
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) relaxation of priority sector lending (PSL) norms for small finance banks (SFBs) — reducing the overall PSL target from 75 per cent to 60 per cent — will provide operational flexibility to these lenders, enabling them to diversify and derisk their loan books by venturing into segments they had previously stayed away from. This regulatory dispensation is expected to free up around ₹40,000 crore for SFBs, which can now be deployed in lower-rated risk, secured assets, said industry players and experts. With the relaxation, SFBs can channel funds into segments such as loans against property (LAP), personal loans, vehicle loans, and loans against mutual funds, they added. According to RBI regulations, an SFB was required to extend 75 per cent of its adjusted net bank credit (ANBC) to sectors eligible for classification as PSL. While 40 per cent of the ANBC was to be allocated to different sub-sectors under PSL in line with the extant PSL prescriptions, SFBs were allowed to allocate the balance of 35 per cent to one or more sub-sectors where they have a competitive advantage. Now, the RBI has said that the additional component (35 per cent) of PSL will be reduced to 20 per cent, making the overall PSL target 60 per cent of ANBC or the credit equivalent of off-balance sheet exposures, whichever is higher. According to Ajay Kanwal, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of Jana SFB, the RBI's relaxation of PSL norms is likely to benefit those banks that may have felt constrained by the earlier requirements. With greater flexibility, these banks could now see an opportunity to diversify their loan books. 'The eased norms may encourage more non-banking financial companies to consider applying for an SFB licence. That said, we do not foresee any immediate impact on our profit and loss (P&L) from this regulatory change,' he said. Some of the areas where SFBs can now beef up lending are automobile loans, LAP, loans against shares, and personal loans. While diversification may not come into play in the current financial year (2025–26/FY26), going forward, the banks can now plan for the next two to three years on how they will diversify their business with the extra room that the RBI has provided, said bankers. According to R Baskar Babu, MD and CEO of Suryoday SFB, the diversification in loan books will pave the way for SFBs to prepare themselves for converting into universal banks. While diversification in the loan book will not necessarily mean higher margins, it would certainly provide comfort on asset quality, as most SFBs have a sizeable microfinance portfolio that gets impacted due to various reasons at regular intervals. The regulator has already announced a norm for SFBs that can be eligible to voluntarily convert into universal banks. Currently, there are 11 SFBs in the country, and three of them have applied for conversion. 'This is the vision the RBI had while issuing the differentiated SFB banking licences. This will help add new asset classes and new geographies for the SFBs,' said Inderjit Camotra, MD and CEO of Unity SFB. 'It will enable SFBs to deploy this 15 per cent towards diversifying their present base,' he said. The new norms, which come into effect from the current financial year (FY26), would aid SFBs in earning profit by selling priority sector lending certificates (PSLCs) in the small and marginal farmer segment to other banks that fall short of the target. Under the 40 per cent mandatory PSL target, banks are required to allocate funds to sectors such as agriculture, small and marginal farmers, non-corporate individual farmers, microenterprises, and weaker sections. While most of these segments do not yield sizeable profit through the sale of PSLCs, the small and marginal farmer segment offers some profitability, which SFBs can now strategically leverage to earn extra income. 'The relaxation in PSL norms for SFBs by the RBI provides these banks with greater operational flexibility to diversify their loan books. According to our estimates, around 15 per cent — or over ₹40,000 crore — could be freed up for deployment in lower-rated risk assets, potentially improving their cost of funds. However, this move is unlikely to have a major impact on their P&L in the near term,' said Sanjay Agarwal, senior director, CareEdge.


Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Transforming Credit Delivery in India: The Unified Lending Interface Meeting, ET LegalWorld
The officials of the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank held a meeting with various stakeholders, including state government representatives, on ways to scale up Unified Lending Interface (ULI) as it has the potential to transform the credit delivery mechanism. ULI is a new digital public infrastructure (DPI) designed to streamline the lending process, similar to UPI in the payment space. It is a technology platform built to facilitate easy access to authenticated data from various sources, through standardised APIs to which all lenders can connect seamlessly through a 'plug-and-play' model. Advt Advt ULI will make frictionless credit available to every Indian, and to further the government's broader vision of digital empowerment, financial inclusion , and last-mile service delivery, the finance ministry statement Services Secretary M Nagaraju and RBI Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar co-chaired a meeting attended by senior officials of 13 departments and 11 state governments, among is envisioned as a DPI for credit delivery designed to integrate technology, data, and policy into one seamless platform, Nagaraju UPI revolutionised the payment ecosystem, the ULI is poised to transform credit delivery, making it inclusive and redefine how credit is accessed and delivered across India, he rich, trusted and high-value datasets available with the Central government ministries/departments and state governments, when leveraged appropriately by lenders, can power data-driven, inclusive, and faster lending, especially for underserved the meeting, the RBI Deputy Governor highlighted that ULI is a DPI of national importance and urged the participants to onboard their datasets on the platform to tap into its potential, it Deputy Governor also pointed out that the ULI has the potential to surpass the transformative impact of urged the stakeholders to nominate nodal officers for fast-tracking the integration of government datasets with ULI in order to make ULI India's next UPI on the credit also emphasised that appropriate integration of various separate similar initiatives operating to serve specific purposes with ULI for deriving synergy to build a unified and resilient national lending ecosystem, while preserving their identity. Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals. Subscribe to Newsletter to get latest insights & analysis in your inbox. All about ETLegalWorld industry right on your smartphone! Download the ETLegalWorld App and get the Realtime updates and Save your favourite articles.