
On October 31, 2022, the RBI also released a Concept Note on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) for India.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced in a circular that the first pilot in the Digital Rupee, Wholesale segment (e-W) will start on November 1, 2022.
The use case for this pilot project is settlement of secondary market transactions in government securities. The inter-bank market is anticipated to become more effective with the use of e-W. By eliminating the need for settlement guarantee infrastructure or for collateral to decrease settlement risk, settlement in central bank money would lower transaction costs, according to the circular.
Future pilots would focus on other wholesale transactions and cross-border payments, it was stated, based on the lessons acquired from this trial.
Nine banks have been chosen to take part in the pilot, 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.
Within a month, the first pilot in the Digital Rupee — Retail segment (e-R) is expected to go live in a few select areas with select closed user groups made up of customers and merchants. In due order, information regarding the e-R pilot’s operationalization will be released.
This Concept Note was published with the goal of increasing public understanding of CBDCs in general and the attributes that the Digital Rupee (e-) is designed to have.
It outlines the objectives, possibilities, benefits, and risks of India’s CBDC issue. The Note tries to describe the Reserve Bank’s introduction of the CBDC plan as well.
Important topics including design and technological choices, potential uses for the Digital Rupee, issuance procedures, etc. are also covered in the Concept Note. The influence of CBDC adoption on the banking system, monetary policy, and stability of the financial system is examined, along with privacy-related concerns.