Science & Tech
RBI secures RTGS and NEFT with Tier IV centre and trains cyber experts
Payment continuity now depends less on outside technology providers.
Payment continuity now depends less on outside technology providers.
The has opened a ₹169-crore and in Bhubaneswar. The centre will support payment systems such as and . Its certification means major equipment and power supplies can work separately. This allows maintenance without stopping services and helps payments continue during cyberattacks, technical failures or other disruptions. Four separate facilities are meant to reduce outages and prevent one failure from affecting everything. The project follows the foundation-stone ceremony held on March 22, 2023.
Governor Sanjay Malhotra said critical financial systems should rely on sovereign s, not external cloud providers. The institute will train financial-sector staff and research cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, blockchain, cloud computing and data science. The approach offers more control and resilience, but it also brings high building and maintenance costs, complex operations, a need for specialised staff and challenges in keeping backup systems and advanced technology available.
The inauguration links physical resilience for RTGS, NEFT and other mission-critical systems with training and research in cybersecurity and emerging technologies. The combined model is designed to strengthen both the infrastructure that runs financial services and the expertise needed to defend it.
Operating dedicated facilities gives the RBI greater control over critical data, systems and continuity decisions. The model also requires substantial capital, specialised staff, ongoing maintenance and genuine redundancy, making resilience dependent on sustained operational capability as well as ownership.
The central bank and government described the data centre as a secure digital foundation for reliable financial services. Its and sovereign control are intended to limit the effect of cyber incidents, infrastructure failures and other interruptions on large-value and retail transfers.
About two-thirds of the site is earmarked for the Cybersecurity Training Institute, while one-third is allocated to the . The division combines operational infrastructure with an institutional platform for specialised training and research.
The institute’s emerging-technology focus includes artificial intelligence, , , cloud computing, big-data analytics and data science. The programme connects new computing capabilities with the changing security needs of the financial system.
The institute will provide training, research and capability development for cybersecurity and enterprise technology. Its intended users include staff, banks and other financial institutions, extending the campus’s role beyond the central bank’s own systems.
Malhotra said the RBI’s infrastructure is because it operates its own data centre rather than depending on third-party cloud service providers. He linked that control to stronger resilience, availability and security for critical financial services.
Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the project includes four independent data centres. The arrangement is intended to improve uptime, reduce downtime and preserve during technical failures, cyberattacks or other disruptions.
The sets the facility’s highest resilience benchmark for data-centre infrastructure. Its design uses independently operating systems, permits maintenance without shutting down services and reduces dependence on .
The facility is intended to host or support critical systems including , or RTGS, and , or NEFT. It will also support government banking operations and services for customers of regulated financial entities.
The RBI opened the twin facilities in Bhubaneswar to provide secure, resilient and scalable technology infrastructure. The campus is divided between the data centre and the institute, with the facilities intended to support the central bank and the wider financial sector.
Then RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das laid the foundation stone at in Jatni, near Bhubaneswar. The project later developed into a combined data centre and on an 18.55-acre campus.