RBI Digital Rupee: The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday said that the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDT) issued on a pilot basis is being gradually expanded to include more banks and locations.
The pilot-based digital rupee was launched on November 1, 2022, for use at the wholesale level. After that, the use of digital rupee in the retail segment was announced on December 1, 2022. Pilot projects were started in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore and Bhubaneswar. In terms of usage, a limited range of customers and merchants were included in it.
Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Gangtok, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Lucknow, Patna and Shimla are also being included in the pilot project in a phased manner.
4 banks have been named
The pilot project started with four banks – State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and IDFC First Bank. While four other banks… Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank joined later.
5 more banks are in the process of joining
Central Bank said in 2022-23 report Five more banks… Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Federal Bank, Axis Bank and IndusInd Bank are in the process of joining the pilot project. The scope is being gradually expanded to include more banks, users and locations as per the need.
According to the released report
, in the case of wholesale and retail digital rupees, things are satisfactory so far and are in line with what was expected. With reference to the digital rupee wholesale segment, it said that settlement of secondary market transactions in government securities has been included under it. Transactions between banks are expected to become more efficient with the use of digital money-wholesale segment. This arrangement is expected to bring down the disposal cost.
Currently nine banks are participating
State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, IDFC First Bank and HSBC ) are participating in the pilot.
