{
 "name": "India Digital Rupee (e-Rupee / CBDC) -- Circulation & Pilot Milestones",
 "unit": "e-Rupee in circulation in Rs crore; milestones are dated pilot events",
 "dashboard": "https://bankpulse.ai/dashboards/cbdc/",
 "source": "RBI Annual Report, RBI press releases & RBI Payment & Settlement Systems data, rbi.org.in",
 "reviewed_by": "Vikram Jain",
 "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
 "updated": "2026-06-20T04:49:00+05:30",
 "dateModified": "2026-06-20T04:49:00+05:30",
 "note": "Official estimates, rounded and approximate; revised periodically. Wholesale CBDC (e Rs-W) launched 1 Nov 2022; Retail CBDC (e Rs-R) launched 1 Dec 2022. Exact decimals pending reviewer sign-off; not in the public Verified-numbers ledger.",
 "circulation_series": [
  {
   "as_of": "End-Mar 2023",
   "circulation_rs_crore": 16.0,
   "note": "Retail & wholesale pilots a few months old"
  },
  {
   "as_of": "End-Mar 2024",
   "circulation_rs_crore": 234.0,
   "note": "Retail pilot crossed ~1 million users (Dec 2023); offline & programmability features piloted"
  },
  {
   "as_of": "End-Mar 2025",
   "circulation_rs_crore": 1016.0,
   "note": "Circulation up sharply year-on-year as more banks and use-cases joined"
  }
 ],
 "milestones": [
  {
   "date": "1 Nov 2022",
   "track": "Wholesale (e Rs-W)",
   "category": "wholesale",
   "milestone": "Wholesale CBDC pilot launched",
   "detail": "Used by select banks to settle secondary-market transactions in government securities, cutting settlement risk and freeing collateral."
  },
  {
   "date": "1 Dec 2022",
   "track": "Retail (e Rs-R)",
   "category": "retail",
   "milestone": "Retail CBDC pilot launched",
   "detail": "Token-based digital wallet issued through participating banks; the e-Rupee is legal tender held directly by the user, not a bank deposit."
  },
  {
   "date": "Dec 2023",
   "track": "Retail (e Rs-R)",
   "category": "retail",
   "milestone": "~1 million users milestone",
   "detail": "RBI reported the retail pilot reached around one million users and several lakh merchants across pilot cities."
  },
  {
   "date": "2024",
   "track": "Infrastructure",
   "category": "infra",
   "milestone": "Offline functionality piloted",
   "detail": "Offline e-Rupee transfers tested for areas with poor or no connectivity, a key advantage over account-based digital payments."
  },
  {
   "date": "2024",
   "track": "Infrastructure",
   "category": "infra",
   "milestone": "Programmability piloted",
   "detail": "Programmable e-Rupee tested so funds can be earmarked for a specific purpose (e.g. farm inputs, welfare benefits) before they are spent."
  },
  {
   "date": "2024",
   "track": "Infrastructure",
   "category": "infra",
   "milestone": "UPI QR interoperability",
   "detail": "Retail e-Rupee wallets made interoperable with existing UPI QR codes so users can pay any UPI merchant from the e-Rupee wallet."
  },
  {
   "date": "FY2024-25",
   "track": "Retail (e Rs-R)",
   "category": "retail",
   "milestone": "Wider rollout",
   "detail": "More banks joined as issuers and circulation rose toward ~Rs 1,016 crore by end-March 2025 (approximate)."
  }
 ]
}