The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is planning to broaden the use of the digital rupee, India’s central bank digital currency (CBDC).
The central bank of the country is looking at additional welfare payment use cases and pilots for cross-border transactions, Reuters reported, citing the RBI’s 2025-26 annual report.
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During the 2025-26 fiscal year, the RBI conducted welfare-linked CBDC pilots in several states and union territories. These included Gujarat, Puducherry and Chandigarh, where beneficiaries received food subsidies through the digital rupee, according to the annual report.
“At the institutional level, multiple government agencies commenced pilots in various direct benefit transfer (DBT) schemes leveraging programmability feature of CBDC to ensure productive utilisation of public funds,” the news agency quoted RBI as saying in its annual report.
The digital rupee is the digital form of India’s physical currency. According to RBI website, issuance, distribution and usage of the digital rupee within the retail segment is live in pilot mode from December 2022.
A Reuters report in April said India was running at least ten CBDC pilots nationwide to assess whether the e-rupee can be used to deliver welfare payments more efficiently.
On cross-border payments, the RBI said it has signed a digital assets pact with Singapore’s monetary authority. It is also in discussions on pilot projects with Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Additionally, it is participating in multilateral initiatives led by the Bank for International Settlements, as outlined in the annual report.
Meanwhile, RBI is considering additional controls for high-value transactions amid an increase in digital fraud.
A discussion paper released by the central bank proposed a one-hour delay for account-to-account transfers above Rs10,000 ($107.92) processed through fast payment systems.
