DigiYatra: A shining example of India's innovative DPI model in air travel

The national digital traveller identity platform shows how innovations with thoughtful design can drive systemic change

In an era defined by digital identity, seamless mobility, and citizen-centric service delivery, DigiYatra has emerged as one of India’s most significant innovations in Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). It is not merely a contactless boarding system — it is the world’s first national digital traveller identity platform, designed to offer secure, consent-based, biometric verification at airports. DigiYatra reflects India’s unique ability to architect transformative systems by combining regulatory clarity, institutional design, and public-private execution.

 

The foundation for DigiYatra was laid between 2018 and 2019, when I was serving as minister of state for civil aviation. At that time, our team developed the core regulatory and technological blueprint that would make DigiYatra viable and scalable. We recognised early that seamless identity verification in aviation required secure, structured access to flight booking information. This led to the issuance of a rule enabling airport operators to access passenger name record (PNR) data, with the traveller’s consent. This was a foundational policy breakthrough — it allowed airport systems to match a passenger’s biometric identity with their flight reservation in real time, breaking the data silos that had previously restricted operational efficiency.

 

Equally critical was the institutional structure we designed. Rather than allowing a commercial vendor or government entity to fully control the system, we created the DigiYatra Foundation — a Section 8 not-for-profit company jointly owned by India’s major airport operators, including the Airports Authority of India, GMR, Adani, and Bangalore International Airport Ltd, with oversight from the Ministry of Civil Aviation. This model ensured that DigiYatra would be interoperable, non-commercial, and governed with public trust at its core.

 

Even in the absence of a formal data privacy law at the time, we adopted privacy-by-design principles from the start. The system was built so that biometric data would be stored only on the traveller’s personal device and used solely with their consent. Usage data is purged within 24 hours of travel and is never stored centrally. Each transaction is opt-in, purpose-limited, and compliant with standards equivalent to the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This gave DigiYatra a global edge, ensuring it was both secure and citizen-friendly.

 

Unlike other DPIs such as Aadhaar or Unified Payment Interface, which are fully state-backed, DigiYatra operates in a decentralised ecosystem. It links airlines, airports, and passengers through a federated identity model. A traveller registers on the DigiYatra app, uploads their ID, provides a facial scan, and links it to their flight booking. At the airport, they simply walk through facial recognition gates that validate their identity at entry, security, and boarding — all without showing paper tickets or ID cards. The system reduces waiting time significantly and makes the entire passenger journey seamless.

 

As of May 2025, DigiYatra is operational at 13 airports across India, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Kochi. More than 3.4 million passengers have enrolled in the system, and over 2.5 million have used it to travel. The government aims to expand it to over 50 airports by 2026, covering nearly all major airports in the country.

 

India is the only country in the world to have developed such a national digital traveller identity system. Other aviation markets have limited programmes—like TSA PreCheck and CLEAR in the United States—but these are private, expensive, and confined to certain airports. European airports have e-gates, but no unified passenger identity model across carriers and terminals. China has invested in biometric systems, but they are top-down surveillance tools, not voluntary, citizen-centric platforms. The reason others haven’t built what India has with DigiYatra is that they have not developed the DPI playbook that India has refined: Modular, interoperable systems governed with public-private trust.

 

The value of DigiYatra goes well beyond convenience. As airport infrastructure struggles to keep pace with India’s rapidly growing air traffic, the ability to increase terminal throughput — how fast passengers move through the system — offers a powerful solution. By reducing the time it takes for each passenger to enter, clear security, and board, DigiYatra effectively increases the capacity of existing infrastructure without requiring new terminals or additional land. This, in turn, lowers operating costs for airports and helps reduce airfares for passengers. In a capital-intensive sector like aviation, such efficiency gains are economically transformative.

 

The broader promise of DigiYatra lies in its versatility and scalability. Because it is fundamentally an opt-in, device-based biometric access system, it can be applied to any environment requiring time-bound access control—metros, intercity trains, buses, corporate campuses, educational institutions, or large venues such as stadiums and event spaces. The system’s architecture is inherently modular and cost-effective, enabling rapid deployment without extensive physical infrastructure or backend integration. This positions DigiYatra as not just an aviation solution, but a template for smart access systems across multiple sectors.

 

With DigiYatra, India has once again shown how digital infrastructure, thoughtfully designed and institutionally grounded, can drive systemic change. As the platform scales to cover all major airports, it will serve not only as a model for travel but as a template for future identity systems in sectors like rail, metro, and public services. DigiYatra is a compelling case study in how the Indian model of DPI—rooted in consent, scale, and collaboration—can deliver world-class innovation.

 

What began as a policy experiment in 2018 is today a cornerstone of India’s next-generation travel infrastructure. It stands as a testament to what public-private cooperation, guided by strategic vision, can achieve for a billion citizens on the move.

The author is distinguished fellow at ORF and visiting professor in practice at the London School of Economics. He is a former Union minister and Lok Sabha MP. The views are personal