Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday, 18 June 2026, shared a statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing that UPI is now accepted in France, including at the Eiffel Tower and Paris airport, marking a significant milestone in India's push to internationalise its digital payments infrastructure. The announcement was made from VivaTech 2026, a major annual technology conference in Paris.

Context

Quoting PM Modi directly, Vaishnaw posted: 'Now you can use UPI in France, too, at the Eiffel Tower, or at Paris airport.' The remark was made on the sidelines of VivaTech 2026, one of Europe's largest startup and technology gatherings, where India-France digital cooperation has been a focal theme. The Eiffel Tower and Charles de Gaulle airport are among the first French landmarks cited as UPI acceptance points, directly targeting the large volume of Indian tourists visiting France each year.

Policy Backdrop

UPI was launched in 2016 by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) as a real-time, mobile-based payment rail built on India's digital public infrastructure stack. Its international expansion began in earnest in 2022 with live payment linkages to Singapore and the UAE, followed by rollouts in Bhutan, Nepal, and Mauritius. France represents a significant leap westward, being the first major European Union economy where UPI acceptance has been publicly announced at prominent merchant locations. India has consistently pursued the internationalisation of its digital public goods — including UPI, ONDC, and the Account Aggregator framework — as instruments of economic diplomacy and soft-power projection, typically formalised through bilateral memoranda of understanding.

Stakeholders and Impact

Indian tourists travelling to France — one of the world's most visited destinations — stand to benefit most immediately, as UPI acceptance eliminates the need for foreign currency exchange or international cards at key tourist touchpoints. French merchants, particularly those at high-footfall locations such as the Eiffel Tower and major airports, gain access to a large and growing base of digitally-native Indian spenders. For fintech companies and NPCI's international arm, the France linkage opens a gateway into the broader European payments ecosystem, where integration with existing card schemes and QR-code infrastructure will be closely watched by industry stakeholders.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to the technical integration timelines with European payment rails and whether additional French or EU merchants will be onboarded in the near term. Any new bilateral fintech agreements formalised during PM Modi's visit to Paris for VivaTech 2026 could accelerate the rollout beyond the initial acceptance points. Analysts will also watch whether this France linkage serves as a template for broader UPI expansion across the European Union, given the bloc's unified regulatory framework for payment services.