Why RBI built Rs 169-cr data centre in Odisha, and what it means for digital payments

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, Odisha Governor Brajmohan Ram and Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi were present at the inauguration. The foundation stone for the project was laid by then RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on March 22, 2023. RBI data centre to support digital financial services The new data centre is intended to strengthen the technological infrastructure underpinning India's financial system.

According to the government, the facility will support the reach, efficiency and reliability of digital financial services by providing secure computing infrastructure for payment and settlement systems and other major RBI initiatives. Officials said the facilities have been designed to meet the central bank's computing requirements and provide a secure, resilient, scalable and future-ready computing ecosystem for the RBI and the broader financial sector.

The location was selected for its geographical stability, with officials citing its distance from seismically active zones and high-risk international border areas. This is expected to reduce the facility's exposure to natural disasters and geopolitical vulnerabilities. The institute will provide a dedicated platform for cybersecurity and enterprise-technology training, research and capability development across the financial sector, the government said.

The initiative comes as financial services increasingly depend on digital systems for payments, settlements and other operations, making the security and resilience of technology infrastructure an important consideration. However, the official statement did not specify the institute's training capacity, the number of personnel it is expected to train annually or a timeline for its operational rollout.

UPI now world's largest payment system Addressing the gathering, Sitharaman said that Unified Payment Interface (UPI) has become the world's largest real-time payment system, with monthly transactions exceeding Rs 2,400 crore. "This RBI campus will house mission-critical payment systems, including RTGS and NEFT. Its training institute and research wing will build expertise in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and data centre technologies," Sitharaman said, according to PTI.

The minister also added that over 59 crore Jan Dhan accounts have been opened so far. "Through Jan Dhan accounts, money is transferred directly to people, without leakages," she said. Jatni facility would be RBI's second data centre Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi welcomed the inauguration, saying in a social media post that the data centre would contribute to the state's development. Majhi said the Jatni facility would be the RBI's second data centre of its kind after the one in Navi Mumbai.

The new training institute is expected to help develop skills among RBI officials and the wider banking and financial sector in cybersecurity, data science, cloud computing and artificial intelligence.