This Diwali, India’s economy has been firing on all cylinders. One of the best indicators of the festive surge is India’s homegrown payments platform, Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
Sample this: On Dhanteras, that’s 18 October, UPI processed over 75 crore payments. In terms of value, that converts to over ₹1 lakh crore. That’s the highest number of transactions that the platform has processed on a single day, ever.
Empowering your everyday transactions for a smarter tomorrow. Here are the daily stats for 18th October 2025. #AePS #BHIMUPI #IMPS #NETC pic.twitter.com/QFf26Y3eka
— NPCI (@NPCI_NPCI) October 19, 2025
In fact, during the three-day period between Dhanteras and Diwali, the average UPI volumes stood at almost 74 crore per day. That’s significantly higher than the 65 crore average during the corresponding period a month ago.
This data ties up with the estimate by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) that Indians spent almost ₹6.05 lakh crore during the current festive season. A significant chunk of payments during these festive purchases was made using UPI.
Now, this surge in demand during the festive season, especially for automobiles, electronics, apparel and other consumer goods, is being attributed to the GST rate cut that kicked in during late September.
According to the CAIT report, 72% of surveyed traders attributed higher sales volumes directly to reduced GST rates. GST on a wide range of products was reduced to 5% and 12% during that comprehensive revision.
The festive boost has also solidified UPI’s position as the leading real-time payments processor in the world. Earlier this year, UPI had overtaken Visa to take the top spot. As per the data shared in July, UPI had overtaken Visa, which was then processing an average of 639 million daily transactions across over 200 countries.
What makes UPI’s success special is the pace at which it has transformed India’s payments landscape. It became the world’s leading real-time payments platform just nine years after its launch, underscoring its rapid scale and adoption.
In fact, the success of India’s digital payments revolution has also been recognised by the World Bank. The global financial institution has said that India now leads the world in fast retail payments, driven largely by UPI.
Also, UPI’s success has come despite its presence in only seven countries. Apart from India, the platform has live acceptance in Bhutan, France, Mauritius, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and the UAE. This also highlights the global potential that the platform holds.
