Digital rupee not just for financial inclusion, we are looking at commercial purposes: FM

"The government and RBI are looking into its several commercial use purposes and not just financial inclusion, which is largely achieved through the JAM trinity,” said the finance minister.

New Delhi:India’s own digital currency, which is likely to be launched by early next year is not only aimed at increasing the financial inclusion, as it is achieved through the Jan-Dhan-Aadhaar and Mobile Trinity, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told US audience, adding that the government and Reserve Bank of India were looking at certain other commercial purposes by launching a digital rupee by early 2023.

Addressing a business round table in Palo Alto, California in the US, where the finance minister is on an official visit, Sitharaman listed several measures announced by the government to push digital currency in India, including the launch of digital rupee by the RBI in the current financial year, establishment of digital banks and a digital university.

While inviting the US investors to invest in India’s digital revolution, Sitharaman said the government was continuously pushing for adoption of digital technologies across sectors. Interacting with the participants at the business round table jointly organized by industry lobby group FICCI and USISPF, Sitharaman said financial inclusion was not the sole purpose of the proposed digital currency, unlike in other countries.

"The government and RBI are looking into its several commercial use purposes and not just financial inclusion, which is largely achieved through the JAM trinity,” said the finance minister. Sitharaman said digital currency was one of the several steps announced among several progressive steps announced by the government in this year’s budget.

Promotion of the digital economy and digital payment systems has been an important policy for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in the last eight years. India currently has more than 500 million smartphone users, with 68 per cent on 4G. The country's 'Digital India' programme driven by UPI, digital literacy, and Digilocker, among others, underscores the digital push. The value of transactions under UPI has crossed $1 trillion in the last financial year, a five-fold jump in the last two years.

FM invites US investors to engage with Indian startups

The finance and corporate affairs minister, who is grappling with the challenge of reviving Indian economy in the wake of economic disruption, encouraged constant engagement to understand and address investor concerns and expressed her willingness to address investors’ concerns as attracting foreign investment is crucial for India’s economic recovery.

India’s economy contracted by 6.6% in the last financial year which ended in March 2022 and just when India and other countries were hoping for an economic revival post pandemic, the outbreak of Russia-Ukraine war and subsequent rise in crude oil and global commodity prices have cast a shadow on these prospects. During her visit, the finance minister also invited US investors to invest in Indian startups and engage with the startup cell at the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.