• RBI is leading among those central banks. It is also one of those central banks that have introduced a pilot CBDC project.

  • The governor further went on to add, “As I can witness, CBDC keeps an immense potential in the near future. Also, it is the future of currency.”

  • A prominent media outlet, Bloomberg also reported that India was looking for the use of CBDCs as its primary transaction mechanism for the payments platform.

Shaktikanta Das, the governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently shared his vision to change the economy of India by using a home-grown Central Bank digital currency (CBDC). 

December 10 was his last day serving as a governor and in his farewell speech he threw a light on his six years of effort to capitalize on new technologies, such as introducing a RBI innovation hub in Bengaluru along with a regulatory sandbox for fintech innovation. 

The progress of India in CBDC

He also talked about the progress of India in developing CBDC and mentioned that many central banks all over the world are stuck in the starting phase of discussion and experimentation. 

And at the same time, RBI is leading among those central banks. It is also one of those central banks that have introduced a pilot CBDC project. He is very confident about the future role of the CBDC in the Indian economy.

The governor further went on to add, “As I can witness, CBDC keeps an immense potential in the near future. Also, it is the future of currency.”

Last month, the Reserve Bank of India, tried to collaborate with new trading partners in Asia as well as the Middle East to spread its wings in terms of cross-border payments for swifter transactions. 

CBDC, the primary mechanism 

A prominent media outlet, Bloomberg also reported that India was looking for the use of CBDCs as its primary transaction mechanism for the payments platform, which is in the current scenario followed by Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Nepal. 

Before this, Das gave advice against executing a system-wide CBDC launch without considering the possible impact on users and the monetary policy of India. 

He went on to add that “Such considerations would initiate from the generation of user data in pilots. The real launch of CBDC can be phased in slowly.”

He also confirmed that the said figure of about five million users along with 16 banks is part of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot that was started towards the end of 2022. 

Even after, he showed optimism in the potential of CBDC to support the payments system of the future, for domestic purposes and cross-border payments. 

If we talk about the major benefits of a CBDC, it can reduce the cost of printing traditional currency, streamline cross-border payments, and make the international settlement system easier.