CBDC Circulation Falls 24% in FY26: RBI Report
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Retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) circulation declined by 24.08% in FY26, RBI report reveals. Pilot use cases & initiatives detailed.
Photograph: Kind courtesy StockSnap/Pixabay.com
Mumbai, May 29 (PTI) The value of retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) in circulation declined by 24.08 per cent in 2025-26, despite the continuous pilot use cases for the currency by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
According to the RBI's annual report, the value of bank notes in circulation in digital form through 'eâ¹-Retail (eâ¹-R)' stood at Rs 771.66 crore at the end of March 2026, compared with Rs 1,016.46 crore as on March 31, 2025.
Meanwhile, the value of bank notes in circulation in digital form through 'eâ¹-Wholesale (eâ¹-W)' stood at nil as on March 31, 2026, unchanged from a year ago.
The RBI clarified that eâ¹-W is used for settlement of large-value transactions among financial institutions and balances do not reflect transaction volumes or values due to an auto-redemption feature exercised by participating banks and non-banks at the end of the day.
During 2025-26, the central bank undertook several innovative initiatives in the CBDC pilot such as launch of direct benefit transfer
(DBT) schemes of the Centre and State governments.
In Gujarat, Puducherry and Chandigarh, public distribution system (PDS) beneficiaries were credited food subsidy through programmable CBDC, redeemable for eligible commodities at fair price shops/identified merchants.
On asset tokenisation, the RBI developed the Unified Markets Interface (UMI), a multi-layer platform to facilitate tokenisation of financial assets while leveraging wholesale CBDC to enhance settlement efficiencies.
A pilot on tokenisation of certificates of deposit (CDs) was initiated on UMI. On cross-border payments, the central bank signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) on digital asset collaboration with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
According to the RBI's annual report, the value of bank notes in circulation in digital form through 'eâ¹-Retail (eâ¹-R)' stood at Rs 771.66 crore at the end of March 2026, compared with Rs 1,016.46 crore as on March 31, 2025.
Meanwhile, the value of bank notes in circulation in digital form through 'eâ¹-Wholesale (eâ¹-W)' stood at nil as on March 31, 2026, unchanged from a year ago.
The RBI clarified that eâ¹-W is used for settlement of large-value transactions among financial institutions and balances do not reflect transaction volumes or values due to an auto-redemption feature exercised by participating banks and non-banks at the end of the day.
During 2025-26, the central bank undertook several innovative initiatives in the CBDC pilot such as launch of direct benefit transfer
(DBT) schemes of the Centre and State governments.
In Gujarat, Puducherry and Chandigarh, public distribution system (PDS) beneficiaries were credited food subsidy through programmable CBDC, redeemable for eligible commodities at fair price shops/identified merchants.
On asset tokenisation, the RBI developed the Unified Markets Interface (UMI), a multi-layer platform to facilitate tokenisation of financial assets while leveraging wholesale CBDC to enhance settlement efficiencies.
A pilot on tokenisation of certificates of deposit (CDs) was initiated on UMI. On cross-border payments, the central bank signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) on digital asset collaboration with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
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