Sitharaman Hails RBI Data Centre, Cites Welfare Schemes

Bhubaneswar, October 25: At the inauguration of the Reserve Bank of India's new greenfield data centre in Khordha, Odisha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday called data centres the greatest strength of today's digital age. She also reviewed a range of government initiatives in the sector and in financial inclusion.

The finance minister said the government had recognised data centres as infrastructure in 2022. She added that the Budget for 2026-27 has announced tax exemptions for foreign companies that deliver global cloud services from data centres operating in India.

The RBI campus will help expand domestic capacity in the systems that lie at the heart of India's payment infrastructure. Critical RBI systems, including RTGS and NEFT, will be housed there.

A training institute with its own research department will also be part of the complex. It will focus on building expertise in cyber security, artificial intelligence (AI) and data centres.

Sitharaman said the facility's location in eastern India demonstrates the Centre's emphasis on uniform development across all parts of the country.

Turning to financial inclusion, she recalled that the Modi government had resolved in 2014 that no Indian should be left out of the banking system. The PM Jan Dhan Yojana was introduced for this purpose, and 59 crore Jan Dhan accounts have been opened so far.

The finance minister also pointed to the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, which has increased access to credit. Under the scheme, 60 crore loans worth 43 lakh crore rupees have gone to small and micro enterprises. Many borrowers have repaid, and 65 per cent of beneficiaries are women.

Under PM SVANidhi, 1.2 crore loans have been given to street vendors. Many have repaid them and now take larger loans.

Sitharaman added that PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, PM Suraksha Bima Yojana and Atal Pension Yojana have also offered security to people.

She said Prime Minister Modi, during his 25-year stint as head of government in the roles of both Prime Minister and Chief Minister, has given priority to technology and Digital India. UPI has become the world's largest real-time system, with volume rising 30,000 times since 2016-17, and around 2,400 crore transactions are processed every month.