



India’s CBDC has got off the ground but where it goes next will depend on how deftly it’s managed
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.This year’s first monetary policy meeting revealed an interesting data point on an emerging monetary product, an element that is bound to influence monetary systems and policies, including global payment systems. Its development has been characterized by caution, and while it is still some distance away from becoming widely accepted, its use-case scenarios present policy and regulatory challenges.India’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), or e-rupee, is finally emerging from the shadows. It is being tested in the domestic economy through managed programmes.
But it will face its toughest test as a cross-border payment tool. As many developed and developing economies mount a challenge to dollar dominance, the e-rupee will invariably be seen as a strategic tool in these geo-economic power struggles. But, before unpacking all that, take a look at a global CBDC tracker, housed in the Washington DC headquarters of think-tank Atlantic Council.
The tracker’s July 2025 report had found after scanning CBDC pilot projects across the globe that India’s e-rupee was the world’s second-largest CBDC pilot, behind only the digital yuan. Digital rupee in circulation had reached ₹1,016.5 crore by March 2025, up 334% over ₹234 crore in March 2024. While the figure for March 2026 is not available, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor T.
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