India CBDC programs
India’s sovereign digital-money route is e₹. The RBI FAQ now lists both retail and wholesale pilot use cases, including tokenised certificate of deposits in e₹-W.
CBDC stack
CBDC overview
The e₹ FAQ states that e₹ is issued by the RBI and is legal tender. Retail e₹ remains the clearest live public digital-money route in India, with the retail pilot live since 1 December 2022.
The same FAQ now identifies three ongoing wholesale e₹-W use cases: settlement of secondary-market government securities, settlement of inter-bank lending and borrowing in the call money market, and tokenised issuance and settlement of certificates of deposits.
CBDC remains separate from VDA treatment. The FIU Guidelines, 2026 exclude CBDCs from their scope, and the existence of an RBI CBDC pilot does not by itself open a private INR stablecoin route.
CBDC matrix
| Topic | Position | Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Legal status | e₹ FAQ says e₹ is legal tender. | Sovereign-money lane. |
| Issuer | RBI issues e₹. | No private issuer equivalent is identified in public law. |
| Retail pilot | Live from 2022-12-01. | Public-facing CBDC use cases. |
| Wholesale pilot uses | e₹ FAQ lists government securities, call money, and tokenised CDs. | Pilot settlement uses only. |
| VDA perimeter | FIU Guidelines, 2026 exclude CBDCs. | Separate from VDA AML category. |
| Relation to private INR stablecoin | No dedicated public framework located in reviewed RBI and payment materials. | CBDC does not imply private-token authorisation. |