The Reserve Bank will embark on development of an institution-grade AI platform, designed to serve as a scalable, interoperable and secure technological backbone for AI applications across the organisation.
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, 31 May 2026: The Reserve Bank of India has released its Annual Report for 2025-26, a statutory report of its Central Board of Directors. The Report covers the working and functions of the Reserve Bank of India for the period April 2025 - March 2026.
DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (DIT)
DIT continued its endeavour to ensure the smooth functioning of all the IT systems and applications of the Reserve Bank and leverage the latest technology to provide the best-in-class ICT infrastructure. DIT made significant progress in modernising payment systems, strengthening digital infrastructure, and enhancing cybersecurity resilience
Agenda for 2026-27
The Department’s goals for 2026-27 are set out below:
● Operationalisation of Next-Generation Core Banking Solution (e-Kuber 3.0) [Utkarsh 2029]: The modules pertaining to government accounts are under development and expected to go live/ migrate from e-Kuber 2.0 in a phased manner;
● Development of a Common Bank-wide Enterprise Platform: e-Kuber 3.0 will be the first payment application to be integrated with the platform and phased migration of existing applications to the platform will be
planned. All new application development initiatives will be based on core platform components augmented by specific functional requirements;
● Implementation of Recommendations of the Working Group to Study Mechanism for Sharing Data between Reserve Bank and State Governments:
A Working Group (WG) was constituted as part of the 34th Conference of State Finance Secretaries (SFS), to study the mechanism of data sharing between Reserve Bank and state governments. The implementation of the recommendations of the WG is underway;
● Operationalisation of Global SFMS Hub: To further internationalisation of the Indian Rupee (INR) and facilitate cross-border payments in local currencies, the Reserve Bank has developed Global SFMS Hub – a cross-border messaging system, built on globally accepted ISO 20022 standards. Bilateral collaborations are underway with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for interlinking their financial messaging systems with Global SFMS Hub. Further steps will be taken to increase its adoption by onboarding more domestic/foreign participants;
● Development and Operationalisation of the Alternate Payment System (Utkarsh 2029): To reduce external dependencies and provide increased flexibility in carrying out system related changes/enhancements, the Reserve Bank has started development of an in-house alternate payment system - a comprehensive solution encompassing all the functionalities of the existing centralised payment systems along with other advanced functionalities;
● Building the Foundations of a FutureReady AI Ecosystem in Reserve Bank (Utkarsh 2029): The Reserve Bank will embark on development of an institution-grade AI platform, designed to serve as a scalable, interoperable and secure technological backbone for AI applications across the organisation. The platform will feature purpose-built large and small language models that are trained for the specialised needs of central-banking functions;
● Unified Workflow Portal: Over the years, the Reserve Bank has ensured digital transformation through multiple webfacing and internal portals/applications to support its various functions. While these portals have enabled convenience and accessibility, they largely function in silos, resulting in fragmented user experience, duplication of data and processes, integration challenges and higher maintenance overheads. To address these challenges, consolidation of the portals/applications will be taken up through the development of a unified workflow portal that will standardise user experience, authentication, data integration and workflow capabilities; and
● Enhancing Trust in the Financial Sector through ‘.fin.in’ Domain: To further strengthen efforts in combating digital frauds, it is planned to have an exclusive internet domain, viz., ‘.fin.in’ for other non-bank entities in the financial sector.
This initiative will further enhance the resilience and trust of digital financial services offered by entities across the broader financial sector.
