The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stated that it is expanding its ongoing pilot of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to more locations and financial institutions so as o add more use cases and features to the digital currency.
RBI stated in its annual report that the CBDC was introduced in phases throughout the year, with the launch of prototypes for the Digital Rupee in the wholesale and retail segments on November 1 and December 1, 2022, respectively.
“The pilots were preceded by the issuance of a ‘Concept Note’ on CBDC to create awareness about CBDCs in general and the planned features of the digital currency in particular,” the central bank explained.
It is proposed that the CBDC-Retail pilot be expanded to include additional locations and institutions.
Four institutions, including the State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, and IDFC First Bank, commenced the CBDC pilot project. Four other institutions, namely Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank, were added later.
Five additional institutions are joining the pilot, including Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Federal Bank, Axis Bank, and IndusInd Bank.
Customers and merchants were added to a confidential user group (CUG) in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Bhubaneswar to facilitate its use.
Later, the list was expanded to include Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Gangtok, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Lucknow, Patna, and Shimla.
