The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plans to introduce a cloud data storage pilot program in 2025, providing affordable services to financial institutions, sources familiar with the matter told ‘Reuters’. According to the report, This is the first-of-its-kind initiative from a major global central bank. This platform will utilize local IT firms, putting RBI in direct competition with the big players in the cloud services market, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and IBM Cloud, said report.

India’s cloud services market is booming, with estimates suggesting it was worth $8.3 billion in 2023 and is projected to balloon to $24.2 billion by 2028, according to a report by International Data Corporation.

“We want to start implementing on a smaller scale in the next few months,” one of the source told ‘Reuters’. RBI’s cloud services pilot project is set to expand in phases over the next few years, with a focus on catering to the needs of smaller banking and financial services firms, said the source.

RBI To Roll Out Cloud Services: What We Know?

Last December, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das unveiled plans to establish a public cloud platform specifically designed for the financial services sector.

RBI’s research arm, Indian Financial Technology and Allied Services (IFTAS), is spearheading the initial development of the central bank’s cloud platform, said the report, adding, following the initial development, the cloud platform will be further enhanced through strategic partnerships with one or more private sector tech companies. EY consultancy firm has been selected as the advisor for the RBI’s cloud project, said report.

Initially, the RBI’s cloud project will be financed through its asset development fund, valued at $2.72 billion, with plans to invite financial firms to invest equity at a later stage, another source told ‘Reuters’.

Meanwhile, the central bank has remained silent on the report, as of now.