India is expanding its central bank digital currency (CBDC) efforts to facilitate faster, cheaper international transactions within BRICS, amid geopolitical sensitivities and infrastructural challenges, as negotiations with Asian neighbours and partners intensify.
India is stepping up efforts to connect its central bank digital currency with payment systems across Asia and the wider BRICS bloc, as New Delhi looks to make cross-border transfers faster and less reliant on dollar-based routing. Moneycontrol reported that Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam have held serious discussions with India about accepting the digital rupee, while the UAE and Sri Lanka have also shown interest in building payment links with the country.
The push comes as India tries to turn its domestic payments strength into international reach. Its Unified Payments Interface handled 24.5 billion transactions worth about $315 billion in August, but only a small share of that activity crossed borders, highlighting the gap India wants to close. The Reserve Bank of India has argued that a shared CBDC framework could reduce the number of intermediaries in overseas payments, cutting costs and settlement times for trade, tourism and remittances.
At the BRICS summit, cross-border payments and digital currencies were a major topic, and Indian officials have been pressing for interoperability between member states’ CBDCs. Reports in Onmanorama and other Indian outlets said the proposal is meant to make transactions more efficient rather than to replace the US dollar outright. Policy Circle noted that the strategy is especially relevant for remittances, with India remaining the world’s largest recipient of such flows, estimated at $129 billion in 2024.
Still, the idea faces major obstacles. BRICS is not a single monetary area, and its members use different currencies, legal systems and financial infrastructure. Reuters has reported India’s caution about deeper financial links with China, after New Delhi rejected a proposal from Alipay+ to connect with its instant payment network over national security concerns. Analysts quoted by Payments Journal said the CBDC work remains largely in pilot form, and that the system will only gain traction if it proves it can improve settlement, liquidity and risk management rather than simply recreate existing networks on a new rail.
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