PANews reported on April 24th, citing CoinDesk , that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is piloting approximately $ 80 billion in welfare spending in e-rupee across about 10 trials to reduce subsidy "leakage" and corruption, and to identify clear scenarios for CBDC (CBDC). In Maharashtra, farmers can receive a programmable subsidy covering 80% of drip irrigation costs, usable only at designated merchants; Gujarat plans to migrate food subsidies for 7.5 million eligible households to e-rupee by June . Since its launch in December 2022 , e-rupee has accumulated approximately $ 3.6 billion in transactions, far less than the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) , which processes approximately $ 300 billion in transactions monthly. Meanwhile, the RBI is pushing for a proposal at the 2026 BRICS summit to integrate national CBDCs and reduce dependence on the US dollar, but this move could trigger geopolitical risks such as US tariffs.