Is India ready to embrace Digital rupee?
By Dr.Deepa Venugopal In a historic move, Indian Finance Minister Ms Nirmala Sitaraman in her 2022 budget presentation announced that India will be launching its own Digital Rupee by 2022-2023. This announcement has evoked mixed response from business and commoners. But what made Ms. Sitaraman take this big plunge? Let us get some quick facts about how India has outpaced the world in digital transactions. India recorded the highest number real time transactions in 2020 to the tune of $25.6 billion (more than 60% of China) surpassing China’s $15.7billion transactions & Korea’s $6 Billion transactions. It is predicted that the value of these digital payments are likely to hit $1 Trillion by 2026. The success of India’s digital payment story can be attributed to high smartphone penetration, economical internet data, policy framework like UPI from NPCI, launch of BHIM – App, digital payments lead by BharatPe, Phonepay, Paytm, Razorpay, Gpay, Pinelabs etc. during the pandemic. They