Status
PILOT
India
India e₹ (Digital Rupee)
According to Reserve Bank of India disclosures and linked sources, this profile records status, architecture, and capability fields for India e₹ (Digital Rupee).
Program Snapshot
Current status fields and timeline data from the profile record.
Type
HYBRID
Program classification
Wallets
8,000,000
As of 2025-12-05
Annual Volume
Not listed
high confidence
Status and Timeline
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Announced | 2020-12-01 |
| Pilot start | 2022-12-01 |
| Launch | Not listed |
| Last verified | 2026-03-29 |
Availability
- Retail
- pilot
- Wholesale
- pilot
Central Bank
Reserve Bank of India
Technical Profile
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Hybrid |
| Architecture | two-tier |
| Access model | account based |
| Technology base | dlt |
| Legal tender | pilot only |
Capabilities
offline payments: Yes
programmability: Yes
cross border: Yes
interest bearing: No
transaction limits: Yes
Cross-Border Projects
No cross-border project entries are listed for this profile.
Recent Updates
According to RBI Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar (December 2025), India's retail e-Rupee reached approximately 8 million users with 120 million cumulative transactions valued at Rs 28,000 crore (~USD 3.36 billion) since the December 2022 pilot launch. According to the RBI Annual Report 2024-25, e-Rupee circulation reached Rs 1,016.46 crore (~USD 122 million) by March 2025, a 334% increase year-over-year, with 19 participating banks (expanded from initial 13). According to the RBI (mid-2024), approximately 400,000 merchants participate in the pilot. Offline NFC tap payments launched October 2025 for mountainous, rural, and urban areas including feature phones. Programmability expanded August 2024 to fuel, groceries, education, dining, healthcare, and travel. Government benefit schemes using programmable e-Rupee include Gujarat G-SAFAL, Andhra Pradesh DEEPAM 2.0, and Odisha Subhadra Yojana (~88,000 beneficiaries). According to RBI (March 2026), cross-border bilateral CBDC settlement discussions are underway with 4-5 countries.
Updated: Mar 29, 2026
Reference Answers
Is India's e₹ a live CBDC or still a pilot?
high confidenceAs of 2026-04-22It is still a pilot. The registry tracks India's e₹ as an active pilot rather than a live public CBDC launch.
India's e₹ is one of the larger retail pilots in the registry, but the current evidence still supports a pilot classification rather than a live nationwide launch. The profile therefore distinguishes meaningful scale from final launch status. That matters because readers often mistake substantial pilot adoption for a completed retail rollout.
- The RBI launched pilot work in late 2022.
- The current registry entry still classifies the programme as pilot.
- Large pilot scale should not be mistaken for a completed public launch.
Citations
- Reserve Bank of Indiacentral bank · T1
Caveats
- The current metrics source set mixes official RBI material with secondary reporting; future updates should keep strengthening T1 coverage.
Related CBDCs
Sources
Sources
Last verified: 2026-03-29
Reserve Bank of India
central bank
RBI Concept Note on Central Bank Digital Currency
central bank
PIB Press Release on CBDC Pilot Launch
central bank
RBI CBDC Publications and Reports
central bank