NeGD and NeSL Sign MoU to Boost Digital Document and e-BG Integration in India

In a major step towards advancing India’s digital governance and fintech infrastructure, the National e-Governance Division (NeGD), operating under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National E-Governance Services Limited (NeSL) — an Information Utility regulated by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI). The collaboration is aimed at enhancing and integrating digital document management and execution systems for businesses, financial institutions, and government bodies.

The agreement was formalised at the Global Fintech Fest 2025, one of Asia’s premier financial technology events, in the presence of Shri J.L. Gupta, Director, NeGD, and Shri Debajyoti Ray Chaudhuri, Managing Director and CEO of NeSL. The MoU represents a crucial milestone in India’s digital transformation journey, fostering a paperless, transparent, and legally robust ecosystem for contract execution and document verification.

Seamless Integration Between Entity Locker and NeSL’s DDE Platform

Under the new agreement, NeGD’s cloud-based Entity Locker platform — an enterprise extension of the widely adopted DigiLocker initiative — will be integrated with NeSL’s Digital Document Execution (DDE) platform. This integration will enable secure, real-time exchange and verification of legally executed documents, including electronic bank guarantees (e-BGs).

The Entity Locker serves as a trusted, cloud-based repository for organisations and government entities to issue, store, share, and verify official documents. Meanwhile, NeSL’s DDE platform allows fully digital, paperless, and legally enforceable contract execution, reducing dependence on physical documentation and manual processing.

This collaboration enables beneficiaries and applicants of e-BGs to directly fetch and access digitally executed bank guarantees from NeSL’s e-BG repository into their Entity Locker accounts. The result is a faster, tamper-proof, and transparent document flow, cutting down processing time from several days to just a few minutes.

Advantages of the Integrated e-BG System

The integration between NeGD and NeSL offers several transformative benefits for the business ecosystem:

• Tamper-proof and legally valid documents: Ensuring full data integrity and legal enforceability under Indian law.

• Rapid turnaround: The issuance and lifecycle events of bank guarantees — including renewals, amendments, and invocations — are completed digitally within minutes.

• Eco-friendly: The digital nature of the process eliminates paper usage, aligning with India’s sustainability goals.

• Ease of verification: All e-BGs can be verified easily through NeSL’s central repository, enhancing trust among stakeholders.

• Cost and time efficiency: Particularly beneficial for MSMEs and financial institutions, the system reduces administrative overheads and speeds up credit facilitation.

Commitment to Security and Compliance

Both NeGD and NeSL have reaffirmed their commitment to data security, privacy, and compliance with regulatory frameworks. The partnership includes stringent protocols for the secure exchange of financial and contractual data, adherence to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016, and compliance with India’s data protection and cybersecurity standards.

Officials have noted that the integration strengthens India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) by embedding secure and interoperable services that benefit government departments, financial institutions, and private enterprises alike.

Leaders’ Perspectives on the Collaboration

Speaking at the MoU signing, Shri J.L. Gupta, Director of NeGD, emphasised the growing potential of India’s digital governance ecosystem:

“We foresee more such collaborations with NeSL in the near future. With NeSL’s e-stamp paper and e-signing services, organisations can now procure e-stamp papers and execute legally valid contracts in real time, ensuring a seamless, paperless, and compliant process.”

Echoing this sentiment, Shri Debajyoti Ray Chaudhuri, MD & CEO of NeSL, highlighted the MoU’s impact on business facilitation and financial inclusivity:

“Our e-BG solution addresses all challenges associated with traditional, physical bank guarantees — it is secure, accessible, and cost-effective. This partnership with MeitY and NeGD marks a significant leap forward, especially for MSMEs, who can now access their digitally executed guarantees and related services conveniently through the Entity Locker.”

Driving India’s Digital Transformation and Ease of Doing Business

This collaboration between NeGD and NeSL underscores the government’s continued push toward building a paperless, digitally trusted economy. It also aligns with the Digital India vision and the Ease of Doing Business framework by streamlining administrative procedures, reducing manual intervention, and promoting digital verification across sectors.

By combining NeGD’s citizen- and enterprise-facing platforms with NeSL’s fintech-driven innovations, the partnership is set to reshape document governance in India, paving the way for future integrations across banking, insolvency, taxation, and compliance systems.

As India continues its march toward a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy, the NeGD–NeSL collaboration stands as a testament to how technology can redefine efficiency, transparency, and trust in both government and business operations.