The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) initiative central bank will roll out a pilot program next year to provide cloud storage services to financial institutions, challenging the dominance of global tech giants in the country’s rapidly growing cloud market, Reuters report.
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The RBI’s initiative, which sources say will begin implementation in early 2025, aims to offer affordable cloud solutions primarily targeting smaller banking and financial services firms. This marks the first such venture by a major central bank globally.
According to two sources familiar with the matter, the project will be initially funded through the RBI’s asset development fund of 229.74 billion rupees ($2.72 billion). The central bank plans to eventually invite financial firms to take equity stakes in the venture, Reuters reports.
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The move positions the RBI in direct competition with established players like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud in India’s cloud services market, which is projected to grow from $8.3 billion in 2023 to $24.2 billion by 2028, according to International Data Corporation.
The project, announced by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das in December 2023, will be developed in partnership with private sector technology firms. EY has been appointed as an advisor, and the central bank has specifically invited India-incorporated companies with cloud solution experience to bid for the project.
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Sources say participating companies must establish data centres in Mumbai and Hyderabad, either independently or as part of consortiums. The initiative aligns with the RBI’s broader strategy of localising payments and financial data storage.
The central bank’s research wing, Indian Financial Technology and Allied Services, is currently spearheading the project’s initial development phase, with plans for gradual expansion over the coming years.
