Why Protean eGov Technologies is looking at an aggressive overseas expansion

Protean eGov Technologies, which has built population-scale digital technology solutions, is planning to take some of its capabilities abroad, as it looks for a major push in the international markets.

“We will focus very aggressively on taking our capabilities, whether it’s the digital public infrastructure (DPI) part, where we will work with governments globally, the enterprise stack or it is the application programming interface (API) to banks and financial institutions globally,” Ajay Rajan, MD and CEO of Protean, told Business Today.

The focused partnership-led international push is a part of a broader three-pronged strategy that the company has embarked on to scale up its business. Apart from the international focus, the growth pillars include population scale e-governance platforms, digital identity and AI-powered intelligence layer.

Both domestically and internationally, the company will use a DPI-in-a-box approach, where it is providing the modular digital building blocks that a government can adapt for its own needs.

“Right now, we are building three defining DPI stacks. One is the CKYC (central know your customer) stack on behalf of CERSAI (Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India). This could be as transformational as probably Aadhaar was. CKYC could redefine the way people create an identity profile for themselves,” said Rajan.

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Protean is also working on building an agri stack, where there will be farmer, land and crop records and this could ultimately help in financial and credit inclusion of farmers. The company had also won a contract last year to provide the technology for Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India’s unified digital insurance platform Bima Sugam.

Protean is also working with financial institutions providing them tech that will help them seamlessly onboard customers on the bank’s platform for deposits as well as loans, said Rajan. This, he said, will help Protean expand further into hitherto untapped areas and in turn drive margin expansion.

“You were seeing us at the back end where companies used our services. We are combining all of that and coming to the front end, giving financial institutions the ability to onboard customers in a single click journey, whether it’s for opening savings or current accounts or offering loans. That in my view will bring Protean to the next level of profit margin expansion and product proliferation.

Projects like the Aadhaar Seva Kendras will also add to the company’s revenues, with full revenue potential expected from the fourth quarter of the current financial year, analysts have said. Protean had won a contract last year to set up Aadhaar Seva Kendras, where services such as enrolments, biometric updates etc. would be offered, in 188 districts.

The full implementation of the project is expected to be completed by the end of September 2026, according to Rajan. The project entailed setting up over 200 Aadhaar Seva Kendras pan India.

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The company is extensively using artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies in areas such as the agri stack and face authentication in KYC. The company says AI will not just drive efficiency across the organisation but also make its product solutions more intelligent and intuitive.

Protean eGov’s shares had seen a massive rerating after it was not shortlisted for the Income Tax department’s Pan 2.0 contract in 2025. The stock has regained some of those losses, rising over 27% in the past six months. However, the shares are still down 16% year-to-date.

Rajan is confident that once the company delivers on its promises, whether its increasing revenues, enhancing margins or the international expansion, the outcomes will follow.