RBI Set To Launch Digital Rupee Pilot Project

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that RBI will launch a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in this fiscal in her budget speech on February 1, 2022

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to launch India’s first digital Rupee pilot project for the wholesale segment today. In a statement, the central bank said that it will “soon commence pilot launches of Digital Rupee (ea,) for specific use cases. Accordingly, the first pilot in the Digital Rupee – Wholesale segment (ea,-W) shall commence on November 1, 2022”. This will further enhance the government’s digital India mission. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that RBI will launch a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in this fiscal in her budget speech on February 1, 2022.

RBI has selected nine banks for participation in its pilot project including State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, IDFC  First Bank, and HSBC. The central bank further informed that “the first pilot in Digital Rupee – Retail segment (ea,-R) is planned for launch within a month in select locations in closed user groups comprising customers and merchants. The details regarding operationalisation of ea,-R pilot shall be communicated in due course”.