Indian Tourists Can Now Spend In Rupee At Eiffel Tower As France Adopts UPI System

In 2022, the National Payments Corporation Of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation that offers UPI services, signed an MoU with France’s fast and secure online payment system, called Lyra.

Paris: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday announced that India and France have agreed to use Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payment mechanism and it will begin from the iconic Eiffel Tower. Addressing the Indian community at the La Seine Musicale, a performing arts centre on an island in river Seine, PM Modi said that Indian tourists in France will now be able to make payments in rupees.

“In France, an agreement has been made for the use of India’s UPI…It will be started from the Eiffel Tower, and now Indian tourists would be able to make payments in Rupees, through UPI, in the Eiffel Tower,” the prime minister said.

#WATCH | India and France have agreed to use UPI in France. In the coming days, it will begin from the Eiffel Tower which means Indian tourists will now be able to pay in rupees: PM Modi pic.twitter.com/kenzDkdbaS

— ANI (@ANI) July 13, 2023

In 2022, the National Payments Corporation Of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation that offers UPI services, signed an MoU with France’s fast and secure online payment system, called Lyra.

In 2023, UPI and Singapore’s PayNow signed an agreement, allowing users in either country to make cross-border transactions. The UAE, Bhutan, and Nepal have already adopted the UPI payment system. The NPCI international is in talks to extend the UPI services in the US, European countries, and West Asia.

PM Modi also spoke about an International Monetary Fund (IMF) study which revealed that efforts by India not only benefit the country but the entire humanity. “An IMF study says that extreme poverty in India is now on the verge of ending. When India does such great work, it benefits not only the country but the entire humanity,” Modi said.

Amid chants of ‘Modi, Modi’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, Modi also said in a few weeks or months from now a statue of great Tamil philosopher Thiruvalluvar will be built in the Cergy Prefecture.

Modi also recalled a personal connection with France dating back to at least four decades when he had become the first member of Alliance Francaise Centre in Ahmedabad way back in 1981.

“My attachment to France is quite old, and I can never forget it. Around 40 years ago, a cultural centre of France was started in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and the first member of that very centre is today talking to you,” the prime minister said.

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