'ULI to transform...': Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath sees it boosting India's entrepreneurial drive

Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha, has praised the Reserve Bank of India's Unified Lending Interface (ULI) as a transformative step for India’s economic aspirations. “Access to credit for everyone is cardinal to India’s growth aspirations,” Kamath said, adding that ULI could significantly fuel the entrepreneurial drive across the country.  

“The more I think about it, all rewards in life are a factor of risk. Debt-taking ability is also a risk. Not saying taking debt is good, but also saying there is no reward without risk,” Kamath said, adding that bad regulations often drive increased activity in shadow markets, while effective ones, like ULI, are designed to streamline access to credit and curb such inefficiencies.

The RBI introduced ULI in August 2024 as a frictionless credit platform aimed at empowering smaller and rural borrowers. Then RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das described it as part of India’s “new trinity” of JAM-UPI-ULI, positioning it alongside digital tools like the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as a pillar of the nation’s digital infrastructure.  

The ULI platform, built on standardized APIs for a ‘plug and play’ model, allows lenders to access borrower data seamlessly, including land records and financial history. By eliminating the need for extensive documentation and reducing credit appraisal times, ULI is expected to meet the significant unmet demand for credit, especially among agricultural and MSME borrowers.  

Das, at the RBI@90 Global Conference, compared ULI’s potential to the transformative impact of UPI on digital payments. “Just like UPI transformed the payments ecosystem, we expect that ULI will play a similar role in transforming the lending space in India,” he said.  

ULI aims to cut through bureaucratic red tape, ensuring quicker turnaround times and improved credit delivery for underserved communities. “ULI is a great step towards helping the entrepreneurial drive of India,” Kamath stated.