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India Pilots E-Rupee to Improve Welfare Payment System
India is testing its central bank digital currency, the e-rupee, through a pilot program aimed at enhancing its $80 billion welfare system. A farmer in Phulenagar used the digital funds to install irrigation equipment on his onion farm. The initiative seeks to address issues of corruption and inefficiency in welfare payments.
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India has launched a pilot program for its e-rupee, a central bank digital currency (CBDC), to improve the efficiency of its welfare payment system. In the village of Phulenagar in western India, farmer Samadhan Sonawane used funds from the program to install a drip irrigation system on his small onion farm. The digital currency was issued directly by the central bank.
The pilot is part of efforts to boost adoption of the e-rupee and strengthen the country's $80 billion welfare payment system. The system has faced challenges related to corruption and inefficiency in the past.
efforts are currently smaller in scale compared to China's, where over 200 million people use the e-yuan. As the world's most populous nation, India could potentially become the largest issuer of a CBDC if the program expands successfully.
