Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday urged the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to further advance its central bank digital currency initiatives and sharpen capabilities around the digital rupee as rapid developments in tokenisation, agentic artificial intelligence and quantum computing begin to reshape the global financial system.
Addressing the Global Fintech Fest 2026, Sitharaman said the RBI should build on the progress achieved through its wholesale and retail CBDC pilots and keep pace with developments in global markets. “I urge the RBI to further advance and also develop what it has initiated through both the wholesale and retail CBDC pilots,” she said, adding that the central bank needed to “continue to sharpen its capabilities with the digital rupee”.
Tokenised bond highlights CBDC role
Sitharaman pointed to the successful pilot of India’s first tokenised corporate bond as an example of how a CBDC could provide the money leg of transactions involving tokenised assets. REC recently completed the pilot under the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s regulatory sandbox,