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NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank is likely to launch a pilot Central bank digital currency (CBDC) for interbank lending or call money market transactions by October, central bank Executive Director Ajay Kumar Choudhary said on Sunday.
The wholesale CBDC pilot, known as the Digital Rupee-Wholesale (eW), was launched on November 1, 2022, with the use case limited to the settlement of secondary market transactions in government bonds.
“The RBI will introduce wholesale CBDC in the call market this month or next month,” Choudhary said on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ summit here.
The introduction of CBDC was announced in the Union Budget 2022-2023 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and necessary amendments in the relevant section of the RBI Act, 1934 were made with the passage of the Finance Bill 2022.
The RBI has selected nine banks: State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of IndiaHDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, YES Bank, IDFC First Bank and HSBC – for its wholesale CBDC pilot project.
In addition, the central bank has already rolled out a pilot in the retail version of the CBDC (eR) on December 1, 2022. The eR takes the form of a digital token that represents legal tender.
It is issued in the same denominations as paper money and coins. It is distributed through financial intermediaries such as banks. Users can transact with eR through a digital wallet offered by participating banks.
The RBI will present various digital initiatives in the financial sector during the G20 summit in the exhibition pavilion.
These include Public Tech Platform (PTP) for Frictionless Credit, CBDC, UPI One World, RuPay On-The-Go and Bharat Bill Payment System.
The wholesale CBDC pilot, known as the Digital Rupee-Wholesale (eW), was launched on November 1, 2022, with the use case limited to the settlement of secondary market transactions in government bonds.
“The RBI will introduce wholesale CBDC in the call market this month or next month,” Choudhary said on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ summit here.
The introduction of CBDC was announced in the Union Budget 2022-2023 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and necessary amendments in the relevant section of the RBI Act, 1934 were made with the passage of the Finance Bill 2022.
The RBI has selected nine banks: State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of IndiaHDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, YES Bank, IDFC First Bank and HSBC – for its wholesale CBDC pilot project.
In addition, the central bank has already rolled out a pilot in the retail version of the CBDC (eR) on December 1, 2022. The eR takes the form of a digital token that represents legal tender.
It is issued in the same denominations as paper money and coins. It is distributed through financial intermediaries such as banks. Users can transact with eR through a digital wallet offered by participating banks.
The RBI will present various digital initiatives in the financial sector during the G20 summit in the exhibition pavilion.
These include Public Tech Platform (PTP) for Frictionless Credit, CBDC, UPI One World, RuPay On-The-Go and Bharat Bill Payment System.
