Speaking at the inauguration of the Reserve Bank of India’s new data center and cybersecurity institute in Bhubaneswar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman highlighted that UPI has become the world’s largest real-time payment system with over 2,400 crore monthly transactions, while showcasing the government’s major strides in nationwide financial inclusion.
BHUBANESWAR — Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Sunday that the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has officially become the world’s leading real-time payment mechanism, now logging upwards of 2,400 crore transactions each month.
Speaking in Bhubaneswar alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who inaugurated the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) new advanced Data Centre and Cybersecurity Training Institution, Sitharaman outlined how India’s digital architecture has transformed both everyday transactions and nationwide financial inclusion.
Core Financial Infrastructure and Cybersecurity Hub
The newly unveiled RBI campus is set to host India’s primary financial arteries, including the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) systems.
“This RBI campus will house mission-critical payment systems, including RTGS and NEFT,” Sitharaman said. “Its training institute and research wing will build expertise in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and data centre technologies.”
Emphasizing regional growth, the Finance Minister praised Prime Minister Modi’s Purvodaya initiative, which prioritizes the economic acceleration of eastern India.
“We will ensure that there is ‘Purvodaya se Sarvodaya’—when the East rises, its light reaches all of India,” she stated.
Expanding the Horizon of Financial Inclusion
Sitharaman highlighted the Union Government’s sustained drive to integrate unbanked populations into the formal financial sector:
- Jan Dhan Accounts: Over 59 crore accounts have been opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, enabling leak-free, direct benefit transfers directly to citizen bank accounts.
- MUDRA Yojana: The collateral-free microcredit scheme has sanctioned over ₹43 lakh crore across more than 60 crore accounts, with women comprising over 65% of the total recipients.
- Street Vendor Support: Under the PM SVANidhi program, nearly 1.2 crore collateral-free loans have been disbursed to street vendors to build operational credit and scale small enterprises.
- Social Safety Nets: Flagship welfare programs—including the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Suraksha Bima Yojana, and the Atal Pension Yojana—continue to provide low-cost insurance and retirement security to vulnerable demographics.
The Konark Parallel: Sustaining the Economic Pulse
Reflecting on the campus’s geographic proximity to the famed Konark Sun Temple, Sitharaman referenced the Aditya Hridayam Stotram from the Ramayana in a post on social media.
Just as the sun continuously sustains life, she observed, the RBI bears a parallel constitutional duty: safeguarding the integrity of India’s financial grid, maintaining uninterrupted capital flow, and securing the digital bedrock that drives modern economic activity.
