At the AWS Symposium 2026 in New Delhi, themed “Innovating for a Viksit Bharat,” Suresh Khadakbhavi, Chief Executive Officer of Digi Yatra Foundation, delivered a compelling keynote showcasing the journey of DigiYatra, from a bold concept to a nationwide digital public infrastructure that at present serves millions of Indian air travellers while setting new benchmarks for privacy, scale, and security.
Opening his address, KhadakBhavi said, “Most of you here have already used DigiYatra, so today I want to share the story of how it was built, right from the concept stage to where we are today, and of course, what the future holds for us.” He emphasized that when DigiYatra was conceived, there was no roadmap to follow. “There was no playbook for an implementation like DigiYatra. This is the first time that such a platform has been built at this scale and volume. What we have created is a blueprint for how solutions that touch millions of lives can be delivered while preserving privacy.”
Solving India’s Aviation Bottleneck Through Technology
Highlighting the rapid growth of India’s aviation sector, Khadakbhavi explained the core problem DigiYatra was designed to solve. “Indian aviation has been growing at a phenomenal pace, with airports expanding at nearly 20–25 percent year-on-year. Managing this traffic became the biggest challenge. You cannot keep building bigger terminals endlessly. The only way forward was technology.” This led to the idea of digitising every passenger identity and document verification touchpoint. “We asked ourselves, why can’t a passenger’s face become their fingerprint? Why can’t identity validation be fully digital and seamless? That’s where DigiYatra came in.”
Customer Experience and Privacy: The Two Core Pillars
According to Khadakbhavi, DigiYatra’s architecture is driven by two fundamental principles namely customer experience and privacy.“For any safety and security solution, customer centricity is the most important factor. For a change, the aviation industry started thinking deeply about passenger pain points, the queues, the uncertainty, the stress, and designed DigiYatra to address them.” Privacy, he said, is equally non-negotiable. “Is the data safe? Is it secure? Is it privacy-by-design? With the DPDP Act enforcement coming very soon, data protection becomes even more critical. Every enterprise processing data must ensure privacy is deeply embedded.
From 30 Minutes to Under 10: A Radical Shift in Airport Experience
Sharing a personal anecdote, Khadakbhavi illustrated DigiYatra’s real-world impact.“Yesterday when I flew in from Bengaluru, I entered the airport at 6:01 pm, crossed security by 6:02 pm, and reached boarding in minutes. In under 10 minutes, you can go from airport entry to boarding gates. Earlier, passengers would spend at least 30 minutes in queues. DigiYatra ensures that even if you reach late, you still have a chance to catch your flight.”
He shared DigiYatra’s scale to highlight its success:
- 21M+ users enrolled nationwide
- 85M+ passenger journeys enabled in 3 years
- 24 airports live, with 17 more set to go live soon
- Coverage of nearly 90% of India’s flying population
- 60% reduction in average checkpoint processing time
“From December 2022 to now, we have scaled massively. More than 30% of India’s flying population is already using DigiYatra. This has completely transformed air travel in India,” Khadakbhavi noted.
Decentralised Technology and Self-Sovereign Identity
One of the most defining architectural decisions was adopting a decentralised ecosystem based on Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) and W3C standards. “Initially, we were building a centralized platform. During the pandemic, we changed tracks and moved to a decentralized architecture. The idea was simple, which is you, the user, should own your data.” He elaborated, “All data is encrypted in transit and at rest. We use strong cryptographic standards and public-private key mechanisms so that only the rightful user or authorized entities can access it.”
This approach ensures:
- Data Sovereignty: Individuals retain full control of their identity
- Privacy First: Zero-knowledge architecture protects sensitive information
- Interoperability: Seamless global data exchange
- Cryptographic Verifiability: Secure, trustless validation
“Privacy by design is our foundational principle. We are interoperable by design, meaning your credentials can be securely shared across systems, even internationally,” he said.
Beyond Airports: The Next Phase of DigiYatra
The future of DigiYatra extends far beyond aviation. At the India AI Impact Summit held at Bharat Mandapam, DigiYatra credentials were used for seamless entry thus marking its first major non-aviation deployment. “If you used DigiYatra to enter Bharat Mandapam today, you experienced our first step into non-aviation services. This opens up immense possibilities.” From hotel check-ins to event access and healthcare, the applications are vast. “When you check into a hotel, you hand over your passport or Aadhaar, which gets photocopied and stored unencrypted. That’s a major privacy risk. With DigiYatra, you simply scan a QR code, your identity is validated, and your data remains safe.”
Open Innovation Invitation to Startups
Calling on India’s startup ecosystem, Khadakbhavi announced plans for an innovation sandbox. “We invite startups and developers to build use cases on our platform. The heavy lifting of creating trusted credentials is done. Now, innovators can build last-mile solutions, from hospitality to events and beyond.” He added, “We will soon launch an innovation sandbox environment to test new applications and allow enterprises to become verifiers.”
A Blueprint for Digital Public Infrastructure
As India moves toward becoming a digitally empowered economy, DigiYatra stands as a powerful example of how technology, scale, privacy, and user-centricity can converge. “What we have built is not just an airport solution. It is a digital public infrastructure that demonstrates how privacy-first, decentralized technology can serve millions while building trust. This is our contribution toward a truly Viksit Bharat,” Khadakbhavi concluded.
