1. Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is a digital form of currency notes issued by a central bank. 2. In India, CBDC is called e₹ (digital Rupee). 3. November 2017 - a High Level Inter-ministerial committee was constituted under the chairmanship of the Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance, Government of India (GoI) to examine the policy and legal framework for regulation of virtual / crypto currencies and recommend appropriate measures to address concerns arising from their use. 4. [July 2019](GoI_Press%20Release_201907_Press%20Release%20on%20Report%20of%20the%20Committee%20on%20Virtual%20Currencies_DEA.pdf) - The committee had submitted its [report](GoI_Reports_201907_Report%20of%20IMC%20on%20virtual:crypto%20currencies_DEA.pdf) in February 28, 2019, and was released in July 2019. It had recommended the ==introduction of CBDCs== as a digital form of sovereign currency in India. 5. October 2020 - Recognising the global developments in the field of CBDC, the Reserve Bank had set up an Internal Working Group (WG) in October 2020 to undertake a study on appropriate design/implementation architecture for introducing CBDCs in India. 6. February 2021 - The Working Group submitted their report. 7. February 01, 2022 - Government of India announced the [launch](PIB_20220201_Introduction%20of%20Central%20Bank%20Digital%20Currency%20'Digital%20Rupee'%20announced.pdf) of the Digital Rupee, that is, a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) from FY 2022-23 onwards in the Union Budget placed in the Parliament on February 01, 2022. 8. March 30, 2022 - Govt. notified the necessary amendments in the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, which enables running the pilot and subsequent issuance of CBDC. 9. February 2022 - An internal high-level committee on CBDC under the chairmanship of Shri Ajay Kumar Choudhary, Executive Director, RBI was constituted in February 2022 by the Reserve Bank to brainstorm and undertake an extensive study on various aspects of CBDC and explore the motivation for the introduction of CBDC, its design features and its implications on policy issues, choice of technology platforms and accordingly suggest measures for its successful introduction. 10. The aim is to build an open, inclusive, inter-operable and innovative CBDC system which will meet the aspirations of the modern digital economy of India 11. [Oct 7, 2022](RBI_Press%20Release_20221007_Issuance%20of%20Concept%20Note%20on%20Central%20Bank%20Digital%20Currency.pdf) - Based on the deliberations in the Committee, the Reserve Bank released this ==[Concept Note on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)](RBI_Reports_20221007_Concept%20Note%20on%20Central%20Bank%20Digital%20Currency.pdf)== to present the background, motivation, choices of design features, benefits and risks and other policy frameworks for e₹ system for the country. 12. [Oct 31, 2022](RBI_Press%20Release-20221031_Operationalisation%20of%20Central%20Bank%20Digital%20Currency-Wholesale%20(e₹-W)%20Pilot.pdf) - From Nov 1, 2022, first pilot in the Digital Rupee - Wholesale segment (e₹-W) was launched 13. [Nov 29, 2022](RBI_Press%20Release_20221129_Operationalisation%20of%20Central%20Bank%20Digital%20Currency%20–%20Retail%20(e₹-R)%20Pilot.pdf) - RBI announced the launch of the first pilot for retail digital Rupee (e₹-R) on December 01, 2022 14. **CBDC by other countries** 1. Digital Yuan [^1] – China is one of the leaders in Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) research and execution. The digital Yuan may not be an international currency yet, but it is certainly gaining momentum in China. Domestic usage of the digital Yuan could have a spillover effect on several international currencies as China is the second largest economy in the world and also has the world’s largest share in global trade. The digital Yuan will allow China to issue more debt in the Renminbi and strengthen networks and mechanisms for debt repayment. ## FAQs 1. [Indian Currency](https://www.rbi.org.in/commonman/english/Scripts/FAQs.aspx?Id=3158) 2. [Digital Rupee (e₹)](https://www.rbi.org.in/commonman/english/Scripts/FAQs.aspx?Id=3686) ## Related Notes 1. [Reserve Money](Reserve%20Money.md) 2. [Currency Management](Currency%20Management.md) ## References ### [[Speeches & Media Interactions|Speeches]] 1. T Rabi Sankar. (Jul 22, 2021). Central Bank Digital Currency – Is This the Future of Money - Keynote address delivered by Shri T Rabi Sankar, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India - Thursday, July 22, 2021 - at the webinar organised by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, New Delhi. [Link](https://rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_SpeechesView.aspx?Id=1111) ### [[Publications (Data Releases) & Research#Publications|Publications]] 1. RBI. (Oct 7, 2022). Concept Note on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). [pdf](RBI_Reports_20221007_Concept%20Note%20on%20Central%20Bank%20Digital%20Currency.pdf) 2. RBI. Jul 5, 2023. Report of the Inter-Departmental Group (IDG) on Internationalisation of INR. [Link](https://rbi.org.in/scripts/PublicationReportDetails.aspx?ID=1244) | [pdf](RBI_Reports_20230705_Report%20of%20the%20Inter-Departmental%20Group%20(IDG)%20on%20Internationalisation%20of%20INR.pdf) [^1]: RBI. Jul 5, 2023. Report of the Inter-Departmental Group (IDG) on Internationalisation of INR. [Link](https://rbi.org.in/scripts/PublicationReportDetails.aspx?ID=1244) | [pdf](RBI_Reports_20230705_Report%20of%20the%20Inter-Departmental%20Group%20(IDG)%20on%20Internationalisation%20of%20INR.pdf)