On December 10, 2024, Shaktikanta Das gave his farewell speech as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). But instead of just looking back at his six years in office, he focused on a bold vision for India’s future — a future where the country’s economy could be powered by a home-grown digital currency known as the digital rupee.
Das believes that the digital rupee, or central bank digital currency (CBDC), has the potential to change the way India’s financial system works, possibly even replacing paper money. According to him, CBDC is the future of currency. During his speech, Das explained how, over the years, he worked to push India to the forefront of new technologies, including launching important projects like the RBI Innovation Hub in Bengaluru and a regulatory sandbox to support fintech (financial technology) startups.
The digital rupee is India’s answer to the growing trend of central banks around the world exploring CBDCs. Many countries have just begun discussing or testing digital currencies, but India is one of the few that has already launched a pilot project for its digital rupee. Das proudly called the RBI a pioneer in this field. Unlike other central banks, which are still experimenting, India has already made real progress with the digital rupee.
However, Das also urged caution. While he is optimistic about the future of the digital rupee, he warned against rushing into its full rollout. He believes that India should carefully study how CBDCs affect users and the country’s monetary policy before pushing it to the whole population. Das pointed out that, through pilot programs, RBI can gather important data about how the digital rupee works and how it will impact the financial system. This careful approach will help ensure the digital currency doesn’t disrupt India’s economy in unexpected ways.
In his speech, Das mentioned that India is also looking at expanding its cross-border payments platform. The RBI is working to create a payment system that can instantly settle transactions with countries in Asia and the Middle East. This means that, in the future, the digital rupee could be used not just in India, but also for international trade and payments.
Das expressed great hope for the digital rupee’s ability to transform India’s financial system, both for everyday use and for global transactions. He believes that CBDCs will play a major role in shaping the future of payments around the world and that India is well on its way to being a leader in this technological shift.
In short, Shaktikanta Das is leaving the RBI with an exciting legacy: the groundwork for a digital rupee that could reshape how India handles money in the years to come.
