Overview
- India is routing parts of its roughly $80 billion welfare budget through about 10 e-rupee trials to curb leakage and give its central bank digital currency a clear use case.
- In Maharashtra, farmers receive programmable payments that cover up to 80% of drip‑irrigation costs and work only at approved vendors, reducing upfront cash needs and long waits.
- A Gujarat program aims to bring 7.5 million subsidized‑food households onto e-rupee wallets by June using targeted transfers to accelerate everyday use.
- Adoption remains modest at about 10 million users and roughly $3.6 billion in total transactions since 2022, far below India’s UPI instant‑pay system, which handles about $300 billion each month.
- The Reserve Bank of India is urging a BRICS CBDC link to lessen dollar reliance, a step that could draw U.S. tariffs under President Donald Trump after duties on some Indian imports tied to Russian crude.