Bhubaneswar, Oct 26: The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) newly inaugurated data centre in Bhubaneswar is set to strengthen the country’s domestic digital infrastructure and enhance the security and resilience of critical financial systems, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Sunday.
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Speaking at the inauguration of the RBI’s Data Centre and Cyber Security Training Institute, Sitharaman said the facility would add to India’s capacity to support essential payment systems, including Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT), which facilitate fund transfers across the banking network.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the facility in the presence of Sitharaman, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra and other dignitaries.
Government Pushes Domestic Data Infrastructure
Highlighting the government’s efforts to expand India’s data infrastructure, Sitharaman noted that data centres were granted infrastructure status in 2022.
She also referred to the tax holiday announced in the Union Budget 2026-27 for foreign companies providing global cloud services from data centres located in India.
According to the Finance Minister, the new RBI campus represents another step towards strengthening domestic capacity for systems that form the backbone of the country’s payment ecosystem.
RBI Governor Stresses Cybersecurity and Resilience
RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the new data centre would improve the capacity, resilience and security of the central bank’s critical systems.
Emphasising the importance of cybersecurity in maintaining confidence in digital banking, Malhotra said secure systems were essential for earning and retaining public trust.
He highlighted the RBI’s existing frameworks covering information technology governance, cyber resilience, outsourcing, third-party risks and digital payment security, which are designed to protect the financial system from emerging threats.
The Governor also pointed to the growing use of data analytics and supervisory technology to identify potential risks at an early stage.
Training Institute to Build Advanced Technology Skills
The accompanying Cyber Security Training Institute is expected to strengthen professional capabilities within the RBI and the wider banking and financial services sector.
The institute will focus on areas such as cybersecurity, data science, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, helping financial sector professionals respond to evolving technological challenges.
Malhotra also emphasised the importance of responsible artificial intelligence, saying its adoption should be guided by accountability, fairness and explainability.
UPI Growth Highlights India’s Digital Payments Expansion
Sitharaman also highlighted the rapid expansion of India’s digital payments ecosystem, describing the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as the world’s largest real-time payment system.
According to the Finance Minister, UPI’s annual transaction volume has increased approximately 13,000-fold since 2016-17. The platform now processes more than 2,400 crore transactions in a single month, equivalent to nearly 80 crore transactions a day, she said.
The growing scale of digital payments has increased the importance of secure, reliable and resilient financial infrastructure capable of supporting high transaction volumes.
With its new data centre and specialised training facility, the RBI aims to strengthen the technological foundations of India’s financial system while supporting the safe and reliable delivery of essential banking and payment services.