The Central Bank of India is in talks with state-owned banks and fintech companies to test payments using the government’s cryptocurrency.

According to the local publication Moneycontrol, citing an anonymous source familiar with the situation, in the event of a successful public test of the state cryptocurrency (CBDC), the digital rupee will be officially launched throughout India.

The Central Bank of India consulted with FIS from the United States on the creation of a CBDC and, according to FIS Director Yulia Demidova, the Indian state cryptocurrency project is quite ready for testing.

It is assumed that Pujab National Bank, Union Bank of India and Bank of Baroda will test the state cryptocurrency. Note that these are state-owned banks – the Indian government owns at least 50% of the shares of these financial institutions.

Earlier, representatives of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that the digital rupee should be introduced gradually – this is evidenced by an analysis of the practice of introducing CBDCs in other states.