NEW DELHI: About three years back, Madhur Mehrotra began to feel the bulge in his wallet. Ten credit cards, 12 loyalty cards and three ATM cards had created a serious weight and space problem in his pocket. The wallet was so thick that no pickpocket would have managed to pull it out. That's when he decided to get innovative.

"Now," says the 43-year-old executive, fishing out a cardholder from his pocket, "I keep most of my cards here." But despite having 25 cards to shop with, Mehrotra is not stopping yet.

Mehrotra's predicament isn't singular. With a bevy of plastic cards sleekly tucked in, well-heeled India's wallet is protruding like never before. As India Shining enjoys the good life, there's a plastic for every occasion and reason.

There's regular credit card, co-branded credit card and debit card. Many of these cards land up for free without request. Then there are loyalty cards in different avatars at petrol pumps, airlines, hotels, restaurants, golf clubs, movieplexes and retail stores. And who would believe, even DVD rental shops offer special ATM cards!

There are about 20 million credit and debit card users in India, according to recent industry estimates. The number of credit and debit cards in active use in 2008 is between 25 and 40 million. And the number is still growing.

Within two years of its launch in July 2006, Deutsche Bank has over 450,000 credit card users in India. Says Shameek Bhargava, managing director and head of cards, Asia Pacific, Deutsche Bank, "Increased competition in the Indian industry and aggressive marketing by various financial institutions is leading to customers opting for multiple credit cards."

Loyalty cards have become an integral part of corporate strategies to ensure fidelity to the brand. For example, Air India has a frequent flyer base of nearly 5,50,000 members. Every member has been issued a frequent flyer card. Similarly, Indian Oil sells Rs 12,000 crore worth of oil every year through plastic cards. This includes 11 lakh co-branded cards with Citibank and another 12 lakh pre-loaded debit cards.