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Strengthening public systems, expanding financial inclusion, and supporting sustainable livelihoods.

The Centre for Digital Financial Inclusion (CDFI) is an innovation and research centre at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR), established in Chennai in 1970. Founded in September 2014, we have worked at the intersection of technology, governance, and financial inclusion — designing digital solutions that make public systems more transparent, efficient, and equitable.

We partner with central ministries, state governments, and international institutions to build platforms that reach the people who need them most. Our work spans Direct Benefit Transfers, health and nutrition, agriculture, rural development, livelihoods, and social protection, across states and at national scale.

Our Approach

In partnership with governments and institutions, we aim to bridge the gap between people and public institutions, empowering communities through digital systems that are transparent, responsive, and built to last.

CDFI’s solutions are driving large-scale projects at the national and state levels in areas such as Direct Benefit Transfers, Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture, Rural Development, Livelihood, Awareness & Outreach, and Social Protection.

Research

We explore the intersection of technology and inclusion to uncover what is really holding people back from accessing public systems and services.

Analyse

Real-time data and advanced analytics help our partners stay focused on outcomes, not just outputs.

Innovate

We design purpose-built digital solutions that strengthen public systems and put people at the centre of progress.

Research

We explore the intersection of technology and inclusion to uncover deep-rooted challenges in governance and delivery systems.

Analyse

By using advanced analytics and real-time monitoring, we help collaborators stay focused on outcomes that truly matter.

Innovate

We design purpose-built digital solutions that strengthen public systems and put people at the centre of progress.

Our Journey

2014

CDFI was established with funding support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, Omidyar Network, and Tata Trusts, with institutional support from IFMR.

2018

PMMVY won the SKOCH Order of Merit Gold Award for Smart Governance, recognising its successful implementation as a national maternity benefit delivery system.

2019

CDFI's Outcome Oriented Digital Framework for Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana was unveiled in Parliament by three sitting Members of Parliament.

2020

Meghalaya became one of the first states in India to roll out a real-time COVID monitoring system, built in partnership with CDFI.

2022

ASHA First launched across Meghalaya, digitising payments for frontline health workers for the first time.

2023

The NRLM LokOS platform was successfully delivered and handed over to Digital India Corporation for nationwide operation, reaching over 82 million Self Help Group members.

2024

The National Health Mission Payment System, the Internal Performance Agreement Management Information System, and Meg-ARISE were rolled out successfully across Meghalaya.

2025

CDFI published a landmark research study on strengthening Primary Agricultural Credit Societies through a comprehensive growth framework, covering 220 societies across 5 states.

2025

Design without limits

Webflow puts the power of code into a visual canvas so every team can create stunning websites quickly — and extend the power of their work with custom code.

2024

Create complex, rich interactions

Design scroll-based and multi-step interactions and animations and easily work with GSAP, Spline, 3D, Lottie, and Rive — all without even thinking about code.

2023

Empower everyone to build

Give less technical teams the tools they need to build confidently with reusable design systems powered by variables, components, and libraries.

2022

Empower everyone to build

Give less technical teams the tools they need to build confidently with reusable design systems powered by variables, components, and libraries.

Awards and Recognitions.

Skoch Gold Award

The Meghalaya government won the Skoch Gold Award for improving social parameters in the South West Garo Hills region, powered by CDFI's data systems.

BOLD Award

The Rebuild Kerala initiative won the global BOLD Award for Boldest Crowdsourced Marketing and Advertising. CDFI's Sunidhi platform was the engine behind the Rebuild Kerala platform.

Governance Now Award

The MOTHER program won the Governance Now Award in the Cloud category in 2020, recognising CDFI's data-driven governance tools deployed for the Meghalaya government.

Businessline Changemaker Award

CDFI was nominated for the Businessline Changemaker Award under Financial Transformation in 2016, recognising its early work in digital financial inclusion.

Introducing our team of experts

Rajendra Thakur

Executive Director

Nikhil Kumar

Senior Program Manager

Fedina Dkhar

Project Associate

Rohit Paul

Project Associate

Ashutosh Pandey

Associate Program Manager

Shibangi Sinha Roy

Communications Manager