Reserve Bank of India
The RBI said nine banks would settle secondary market trades in government securities with a wholesale digital rupee from 1 November 2022.
- Status
- Live
- Announced
- (announcement)
- Stage
- Pilot
- Chain or network
- unknown
- Participants
- State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, IDFC First Bank, HSBC
- Next review
Scorecard
As of the review on . Changes since the previous review are marked. How pilots are scored
| Ledger | Unknown |
|---|---|
| Settlement | CBDC on the ledger |
| Access | Whitelisted institutions or investors |
| Legal standing | Token is the legal record |
| Scale | Repeat |
What they said they would do
- MetNine banks begin settling secondary market transactions in government securities in e₹-W from 1 November 2022. (by )
- OpenOther wholesale transactions and cross-border payments will be the focus of future pilots, based on learnings from this pilot.
Decisions
Expanded
RBI annual report 2023-24 records that e₹-W was expanded to interbank lending and borrowing, with changes in technical architecture. The report does not date the change.
Source: rbi.org.in
Expanded
RBI annual report 2024-25 records the addition of four standalone primary dealers to e₹-W. The report does not date the change.
Source: rbi.org.in, rbi.org.in
Review history
Live Pilot
Annual report 2022-23 confirms the pilot began on 1 November 2022 with the nine named banks, and puts e₹-W in circulation at ₹10.69 crore on 31 March 2023. The RBI has not published the ledger technology.
Evidence: rbi.org.in, rbi.org.in
Live Pilot
Annual report 2023-24 records a second use case, interbank lending and borrowing, and a change in technical architecture. e₹-W in circulation at 31 March 2024 was ₹0.08 crore.
Evidence: rbi.org.in, rbi.org.in
Live Pilot
Four standalone primary dealers joined, the first non-bank participants. Annual report 2024-25 shows nil e₹-W in circulation at 31 March 2025, which reflects year-end holdings and says nothing about volumes settled during the year.
Evidence: rbi.org.in, rbi.org.in
Live Pilot
Annual report 2025-26 says both wholesale pilots were expanded again, and e₹-W now settles tokenised certificates of deposit and the Demat 2.0 corporate bonds. That meets the 'other wholesale transactions' half of claim 1; no cross-border e₹-W pilot has started, so the claim stays open. The RBI has published no wholesale volumes.
Evidence: rbi.org.in, rbi.org.in, rbi.org.in
What was announced
On 31 October 2022 the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that its first wholesale digital rupee (e₹-W) pilot would start on 1 November 2022. Nine banks would use e₹-W to settle secondary market trades in government securities (G-secs). The RBI said settlement in central bank money would cut transaction costs by removing the need for a settlement guarantee or collateral, and that other wholesale transactions and cross-border payments would follow.
How it works
The G-sec trade is agreed as usual, and the cash leg moves in e₹-W, a central bank liability issued by the RBI. Only the participating banks, and later four standalone primary dealers, hold it, so access is whitelisted. The RBI has not said what ledger e₹-W runs on, whether distributed or centralised, so ledger stays unknown. Settlement is cbdc and the token is the RBI’s own liability, so legal is native.
Record so far
The pilot started on the date promised with the nine banks named. The RBI has reported it only through its annual reports. e₹-W in circulation was ₹10.69 crore at 31 March 2023, ₹0.08 crore a year later and nil at 31 March 2025. These are year-end balances, and the RBI has never published how much value e₹-W settled during a year.
The scope grew in steps. The 2023-24 report (para VI.42) added interbank lending and borrowing and a new technical architecture. The 2024-25 report (para I.29) added four standalone primary dealers. The 2025-26 report (para VI.54) says both pilots were expanded again. The RBI’s e₹ FAQ, updated 29 April 2026, lists three e₹-W uses: G-sec settlement, call money and tokenised certificates of deposit. Since September 2026 e₹-W also settles the Demat 2.0 tokenised corporate bonds, which have their own entries.
The cross-border half of the original claim has not happened. The 2025-26 report (para I.23) records talks with the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Central Bank of the UAE on a cross-border CBDC pilot, but no pilot.
What to watch
A published figure for value settled in e₹-W, which would support scale: sustained. The first cross-border wholesale pilot. Any statement on the ledger technology, which would settle the ledger value.