News

India’s CBDC “e-Rupee” To Launch In These Cities Next?

The RBI has expanded its CBDC pilot program for the e-rupee to launch in nine more Indian cities with the help of five more banks.
Published by
India’s CBDC “e-Rupee” To Launch In These Cities Next?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently announced the expansion of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) pilot program–more often referred to as the e-Rupee–to nine new cities. Five additional banks will also participate in the program, bringing the total number of banks involved to eight. The central bank began testing the e-rupee on retail clients in December of 2022.

Advertisement

India’s CBDC To Expand Further

The RBI has emphasized a gradual deployment of the e-rupee and is now providing the retail CBDC service to 50,000 customers on an invitation-only basis, with 5,000 of those users being merchants. With the number of transactions rising and the adoption process moving slowly and gradually, India’s central bank has expanded the pilot program for the e-rupee to nine further cities and five additional banks.

Read More: Check Out The Top 10 DeFi Lending Platforms Of 2023

According to the Deputy Governor of the RBI, T. Rabi Sankar, the transition to the e-rupee has been carried out without a hitch up to this point, and the volume of transactions has been steadily increasing, amounting to around 7.7 lakh rupees. On November 1, 2022, the RBI made the CBDC available for wholesale usage, and on the first of December, it became available for retail use.

Advertisement

e-Rupee Enters Next Stage

While the retail e-rupee is being piloted within a closed user group (CUG) consisting of participating customers and merchants, the wholesale CBDC can only be used for the settlement of secondary market transactions in government securities. This restriction applies only to the wholesale CBDC and is expected to open up other opportunities in stage-two of its pilot program.

During the initial stage of the pilot program, it included a total of participating four banks, viz. State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, and IDFC First Bank. Subsequently, there have been plans for additional expansion to include four more banks, such as Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank. Currently, the CBDC is operational in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bhubaneshwar and Bengaluru. If one is to believe what industry experts are saying, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, and Pune are being anticipated to be the next line of cities to utilize the e-rupee. However, since the RBI has not released any definite news, these estimations should be treated with a grain of salt.

By eliminating the requirement for settlement guarantee infrastructure or collateral to offset settlement risk, it is anticipated that the e-rupee will make the interbank market more efficient and bring down the costs of conducting transactions.

Also Read: What’s Making The Sandbox (SAND) Price Skyrocket Over 20%?

Advertisement

Share
Pratik Bhuyan

Pratik has been a crypto evangelist since 2016 & been through almost all that crypto has to offer. Be it the ICO boom, bear markets of 2018, Bitcoin halving to till now - he has seen it all.

Published by
Why trust CoinGape: CoinGape has covered the cryptocurrency industry since 2017, aiming to provide informative insights to our readers. Our journalists and analysts bring years of experience in market analysis and blockchain technology to ensure factual accuracy and balanced reporting. By following our Editorial Policy, our writers verify every source, fact-check each story, rely on reputable sources, and attribute quotes and media correctly. We also follow a rigorous Review Methodology when evaluating exchanges and tools. From emerging blockchain projects and coin launches to industry events and technical developments, we cover all facets of the digital asset space with unwavering commitment to timely, relevant information.
Investment disclaimer: The content reflects the author’s personal views and current market conditions. Please conduct your own research before investing in cryptocurrencies, as neither the author nor the publication is responsible for any financial losses.
Ad Disclosure: This site may feature sponsored content and affiliate links. All advertisements are clearly labeled, and ad partners have no influence over our editorial content.

Recent Posts

  • News

How the Crypto Market Could React to the Next Fed Meeting on October 29?

The crypto market has, for a while now, been pricing a potential 25 basis points…

October 23, 2025
  • News

$1.68 Trillion T. Rowe Price Files for First Active Crypto ETF Holding BTC, ETH, SOL, and XRP

Rowe Price has filed for its first actively managed crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF). It is…

October 22, 2025
  • News

Standard Chartered Predicts Bitcoin Could Drop Below $100K Amid U.S.–China Trade Tensions

Standard Chartered analyst Geoff Kendrick has predicted that the Bitcoin price could suffer a significant…

October 22, 2025
  • News

Rising Demand for Verifiable Crypto Ownership Drives Launch of Trezor Safe 7

Crypto ownership is a topic that has been discussed across major forums globally in the…

October 22, 2025
  • News

Robinhood Lists Binance Coin as BNB Outperforms BTC, ETH, SOL YTD By Over 30%

Crypto exchange Robinhood has listed the Binance coin for spot trading for its U.S. customers.…

October 22, 2025
  • News

Bitget Partners With Google Developer Group On Hackathon To Support AI Innovation

Bitget, a leading crypto exchange in the world, has joined forces with Google Developer Group…

October 22, 2025