RBI to launch first pilot of Digital Rupee today

India’s first Digital Rupee pilot project will commence on Tuesday with nine banks, including SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, issuing the virtual currency for transactions in Government securities.

“…The first pilot in the Digital Rupee – Wholesale segment shall commence on November 1, 2022,” the RBI said in a statement on ‘Operationalisation of Central Bank Digital Currency-Wholesale (e?-W) Pilot’.

It also announced that the first pilot in Digital Rupee – Retail segment is planned for launch within a month in select locations in closed user groups comprising customers and merchants. The use case for the pilot is settlement of secondary market transactions in government securities, the RBI said regarding the maiden project starting Tuesday. “Use of e?-W is expected to make the inter-bank market more efficient,” it added.