E-rupee worth over Rs 130 crore in circulation: Sitharaman
New Delhi (PTI): Digital or e-rupee worth over Rs 130 crore is in circulation on a pilot basis as of February 28, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had launched pilots in digital rupee in the wholesale segment (e?-W) on November 1, 2022 and in the retail segment (e?-R) on December 1, 2022.
Nine banks, viz., State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, IDFC First Bank and HSBC, have been participating in the digital rupee wholesale pilot, Sitharaman said.
"As on February 28, 2023, the total digital rupee - Retail (e?-R) and digital rupee - wholesale (e?-W) in circulation is Rs 4.14 crore and Rs 126.27 crore, respectively," Sitharaman said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
The e?-R is in the form of a digital token that represents legal tender. It is being issued in the same denominations that paper currency and coins are currently issued.
It is being distributed through financial intermediaries, i.e., banks. Users can transact with e?-R through a digital wallet offered by the participating banks and stored on mobile phones/devices.
The e? pilot for retail segment was launched on December 1, 2022 in 5 select locations in closed user group for making Person to Person (P2P) and Person to Merchant (P2M) transactions.
The on-boarded merchants comprise various segments like tea vendors, fruit sellers, street side and sidewalk vendors (including migrant fruit vendors selling on the pavement opposite the RBI's headquarters, Mumbai), small shopkeepers etc," Sitharaman said.
Further, institutional merchants like retail chains, petrol pumps etc. have also been on-boarded to enable transactions in digital rupee across various outlets.
Few online merchants have also been enabled to accept digital rupee for the convenience of users.
In the approximately three months of the pilot, the total digital rupee - Retail (e?-R) in circulation in the select locations is Rs 4.14 crore, the minister said.
"Various use cases, technological architecture and design features are being tested during the pilot... Further steps, including expansion of use case, have to be through a phased implementation strategy on the basis of feedback received during the pilots," Sitharaman added.
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Govt floats tender for new Shivaji Maharaj statue in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg
Mumbai (PTI): In the wake of collapse of the Shivaji Maharaj statue in Sindhudurg, the Maharashtra government has issued a tender for the construction of a new 60-foot-tall statue there, nearly twice the size of the previous one, officials said on Wednesday.
The statue will be built at a cost of Rs 20 crore and the government has set a six-month timeframe for the completion of the work, they said.
A 35-foot-tall statue of the 17th century Maratha empire founder, unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rajkot fort in Malvan tehsil of Sindhudurg district on December 4 (Navy Day) last year, collapsed on August 26 amid strong winds.
The statue's sculptor, Jaydeep Apte, was later arrested.
The government has faced flak as the opposition parties alleged the decision to install the statue in Sindhudurg was taken haphazardly, which resulted in poor quality of work.
Maharashtra Public Works Department (PWD) had flagged concerns over rust gathering on Shivaji Maharaj’s statue and suggested permanent measures in a letter sent to a Naval official just six days before the structure collapsed.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had said the statue was designed and constructed by the Indian Navy.
He claimed winds were blowing at 45 km per hour when the statue collapsed.
A tender has been issued for the construction of a new statue and its height would be 60 feet, a PWD official said.
"The total cost would now be Rs 20 crore, including its engineering, installation and maintenance. The government has given six months to complete the work. The height of the statue would be 60 feet," the official said.
