NPCI launches fourth unit, NTSL, for AI and blockchain

By Olivia Hart

India’s National Payments Corporation of India said it created its fourth wholly owned subsidiary, NPCI Tech Solutions Limited, on November 4. The new company, known as NTSL, becomes the group’s technology and innovation arm, with work extending beyond core retail payments.

NPCI’s official announcement assigns NTSL a broad portfolio:

• Artificial intelligence
• Blockchain
• Digital financial infrastructure
• Global capability center services
• Technology services for digital public infrastructure programs, including eKYC Setu and the Unified Ticketing Platform

The first four areas cover enabling technologies and service delivery. The fifth assigns NTSL technology-services work on two named public infrastructure programs, rather than limiting it to products for financial institutions. NPCI said the unit will develop technology capabilities for financial services and other public digital systems.

That mandate is broader than running a payment network. A separate corporate structure lets NTSL build and provide technology services outside NPCI’s established payment-network role, although the announcement does not define its commercial model, customer mix or pricing.

NPCI chief executive Dilip Asbe said, “emerging technologies were creating new possibilities across digital infrastructure and financial services.” His statement established strategic intent without identifying revenue, staffing or delivery milestones.

What leadership and hiring will NTSL need?

NPCI said Vishal Kanvaty was appointed managing director and chief executive officer of NTSL. Kanvaty previously served as NPCI’s chief technology officer and had been associated with the organization for nearly a decade, or roughly 10 years.

Before the formal launch, NPCI’s careers site had already listed NTSL positions in Hyderabad. Those roles covered product development and emerging payment technology, showing recruitment activity before the announcement without establishing eventual team size.

NPCI disclosed no organization chart beneath Kanvaty, hiring timetable or split between transferred and newly hired staff. NTSL has continuity at the top, but its execution capacity remains unquantified.

How does NTSL fit NPCI’s existing business?

NPCI said it operates India’s major retail payment and settlement systems, including the Unified Payments Interface. The organization links UPI’s scale to its position as a central provider of financial technology infrastructure in India, while its subsidiaries extend into international payments, bill payments and consumer services.

NTSL is the group’s fourth wholly owned subsidiary, following three existing units:

• NPCI International Payments
• NPCI Bharat BillPay
• NPCI BHIM Services

The fourth unit broadens NPCI’s corporate perimeter into general technology services. NTSL will provide technology services to programs such as eKYC Setu and the Unified Ticketing Platform, but the announcement does not say whether those assignments carry dedicated revenue or remain internal infrastructure work.

NPCI’s announcement gives no UPI transaction volume, group revenue figure or NTSL capital commitment. Structurally, NTSL broadens NPCI’s reach, but the financial linkage to UPI remains undisclosed.

What is the AI-agent angle for UPI?

The launch arrives as NPCI expands its work on AI-enabled payments. Earlier TechNode Global reporting said the organization was developing a registry intended to identify and monitor AI agents that initiate UPI transactions.

That report gives no launch date, participant criteria or operating model. The NTSL announcement also does not say whether the new subsidiary will own the registry, build its technology or merely support related products.

Asbe’s earlier comment did not tie AI-agent payments to a specific NTSL product, customer or deadline. AI-agent payments remain a stated direction, not a dated NTSL deliverable.

What is missing from the business case?

NPCI disclosed no investment budget, staffing plan or revenue targets for NTSL. The announcement also provided no full-portfolio timetable, named commercial customers, pricing structure or revenue-sharing arrangement.

Those omissions prevent an assessment of NTSL’s near-term scale and commercial viability. They also leave unclear whether the subsidiary will operate as a cost center, a services vendor or both.

NPCI said the separate structure allows NTSL to build and provide technology services beyond the payment-network mandate. It did not disclose standalone cost structures, outside investment plans or any mechanism for returning earnings to the parent.

The next proof point will be disclosure of funding, staffing and revenue targets; without those figures, NTSL remains a newly separated technology unit, not yet a quantified growth business.