# Programmable digital rupee gains ground; RBI says adoption rising

2026-08-06T19:45:12+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk

Corroboration: 1 independent outlet

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Rohit Jain said on Wednesday that both Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and Unified Lending Interface (ULI) are being used for actual transactions, not just pilots, and adoption is rising. He told The Hindu that 12 states have digitised land records and state governments show increasing interest. However, New Indian Express reports that retail digital rupee usage remains modest compared to UPI. Bank executives said programmable CBDC, which restricts spending to pre-defined purposes, is gaining traction for welfare schemes, direct benefit transfers and employee benefits. Punjab National Bank has 172,000 users and 1.53 million transactions. Canara Bank's CBDC business rose from 11.99 lakh to 19.26 lakh. Indian Bank processes 40,000-50,000 transactions monthly.

## Coverage

- thehindu.com <https://www.thehindu.com/business/cbdc-and-uli-make-further-inroads-state-govts-show-increasing-interest-rbi-dy-governor-rohit-jain/article71309304.ece>
- newindianexpress.com <https://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2026/Aug/07/digital-rupee-struggles-programmable-cbdc-comes-to-rescue>

Tags: CBDC, Digital lending, Digital rupee, RBI, ULI
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