Credit card association Visa said on Thursday spending in India via its cards issued both inside and outside the country rose 138 per cent in 2002 to $3.725 billion.
Spending through Visa cards issued only in India grew by 36 per cent to $1.137 billion, it said in a statement.
It said it issued nearly five million Visa Electron debit cards in 2002, near four times the previous year's figure.
"We are extremely excited about the opportunities in India," the statement quoted Santanu Mukherjee, country manager for South Asia as saying.
With both customers and banks increasingly accepting cards as a mode of payment, Visa was on a high growth path in India, he said.