Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday, 18 June 2026 shared remarks by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at VivaTech 2026 in Paris, France, spotlighting DigiLocker as one of the world's largest digital document wallets, with 700 million users able to access authentic government-issued documents anytime, anywhere.

Context

Posting on X, Minister Vaishnaw quoted PM Modi directly: 'DigiLocker is one of the world's largest digital document wallet. Through DigiLocker, 700 million users are able to access authentic documents from the original source, anytime, anywhere.' The statement was made from the stage of VivaTech 2026, Europe's flagship annual technology and startup summit held in Paris.

VivaTech draws global technology leaders, investors, and policymakers and has increasingly become a platform where emerging economies showcase their digital infrastructure credentials to international audiences.

Policy Backdrop

DigiLocker was launched in February 2015 under the Digital India programme, which Prime Minister Modi has championed since taking office in 2014. The platform provides citizens with secure, cloud-based access to government-issued documents — from driving licences and academic certificates to insurance policies — eliminating the need to carry physical paperwork.

The service operates on the principle of issuer-to-citizen direct delivery, meaning documents are fetched from the original issuing authority in real time, reducing the risk of forgery. It is tightly integrated with Aadhaar-based identity verification, forming a critical layer of India's broader digital public infrastructure stack.

Successive Union Budgets and Digital India progress reviews have emphasised expanding interoperability between DigiLocker and private-sector service providers — from banks to insurance companies — to deepen the platform's utility beyond government transactions.

Stakeholders and Impact

The platform's stated user base of 700 million — if borne out — would represent more than half of India's total population, underlining the scale at which the government claims digital adoption has occurred. Indian citizens, particularly those in semi-urban and rural areas, stand to benefit most from reduced dependence on physical document infrastructure.

For government departments at both the central and state levels, DigiLocker reduces the administrative burden of manual verification. The international showcase at VivaTech also signals India's ambition to position its digital public goods — including DigiLocker, the Unified Payments Interface, and Aadhaar — as exportable models for other developing nations.

Minister Vaishnaw, in his capacity as Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, oversees the regulatory and operational framework under which DigiLocker functions, making his amplification of the PM's remarks a formal ministerial endorsement of the platform's global pitch.

What's Next

India's participation in VivaTech 2026 is expected to generate bilateral conversations around digital cooperation with European counterparts. Domestically, the next cycle of Digital India progress reporting and the forthcoming Union Budget are likely to include announcements on expanding DigiLocker's integration with additional state government departments and private-sector entities.

Observers will watch whether the Paris showcase translates into formal agreements for technology partnerships or advisory engagements that help other countries replicate India's digital public infrastructure model.