RBI Proposes Historic BRICS CBDC Grid for 2026 Summit
India sets the stage for a BRICS digital currency grid at the 2026 summit, challenging the dollar’s dominance under the guise of payment efficiency.
India pushes to formalize the “de-dollarization” rail.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recommended that a framework for linking BRICS central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) be placed on the official agenda for the 2026 BRICS summit. The proposal, reported by Reuters and confirmed by sources familiar with the matter, marks a pivotal shift: India, typically the bloc’s neutral balancer, is now actively architecting the infrastructure that could bypass the US dollar in cross-border settlement.
New Delhi is set to host the 2026 summit later this year. If the agenda item is ratified, it would move the bloc from theoretical “payment interoperability,” agreed upon in the July 2025 Rio Declaration, to a concrete technical roadmap.
The Numbers: A Lopsided Ledger
The technical reality of this proposal reveals a massive disparity in readiness. While the RBI’s e-rupee has onboarded 7 million retail users since its December 2022 pilot launch, China’s digital yuan (e-CNY) is lightyears ahead. By late 2025, the e-CNY had processed nearly 3.5 billion transactions worth 16.7 trillion yuan ($2.38 trillion), with Beijing recently adding interest-bearing features to digital wallets to drive adoption.
The disparity raises immediate governance questions: In a shared BRICS grid, whose tech stack prevails? Sources indicate the RBI is wary of adopting “platforms developed by others” (read: China), insisting on a neutral, interoperable layer rather than a plug-in to Beijing’s mBridge architecture.
The “Efficiency” Defense
Indian officials continue to walk a geopolitical tightrope. While the linked grid effectively creates a sanction-proof trade channel for Russia and Iran, the RBI publicly maintains the project is purely about payment velocity and cost reduction, not geopolitical strategy.
“The RBI has stated that its efforts to promote the rupee’s global use are not aimed at promoting de-dollarization,” noted one source close to the discussions.
Markets remain skeptical of the distinction. The Indian Rupee (INR) has hovered near historic lows, trading at 90.86 per dollar this week, as traders weigh the risk of US tariff retaliation against the bloc’s increasingly overt financial autonomy.
