The Reserve Bank of India’s new data centre in Bhubaneswar will strengthen the country’s financial system and reduce downtime for critical services. Governor Sanjay Malhotra said, "For a central bank of a country, IT no longer is a support function." This facility also houses a cybersecurity training institute for staff.
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) new data centre complex in Bhubaneswar will strengthen the resilience of the country's financial system and improve the uptime of critical services, including payment systems and government banking operations, Governor Sanjay Malhotra said on Sunday.
The data centre has the highest Tier 4 accreditation from the Uptime Institute and will operate independently of third-party cloud service providers, Malhotra said in an interview with DD India.
"For a central bank of a country, IT no longer is a support function. It is a very core function because it is from where all our applications for the general public, for our own use and for consumers run," he said.
The RBI's payment systems, including the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) and Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), operate round the clock. While the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is operated by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the final settlement takes place through the RBI's data centres and applications, Malhotra said.
The central bank's e-Kuber platform, which facilitates its banking operations for the Centre and state governments, as well as banks, will also benefit from the new facility. Other applications, including those used by regulated entities to seek licences and approvals from the RBI, will be hosted at the centre.
PM inaugurates RBI's ₹169-cr data centre, cybersecurity institute in Odisha
Critical flaw affecting 70% of websites has cybersecurity world panicked
PM Modi to visit Varanasi, Bhubaneswar on Sunday for key inaugurations
NSE reviewing network vulnerabilities as AI cyber threats rise: Chauhan
The coming global wealth destructionpremium
The facility is expected to improve service quality and efficiency, reduce downtime and enhance the resilience of the country's financial system, Malhotra said.
The complex will have four independent data centres. The RBI has also applied for a platinum rating from the Indian Green Building Council, which would recognise the facility's energy and water efficiency standards.
The project also houses a cybersecurity training institute, with two-thirds of the land allocated to the institute and one-third to the data centre.
The institute will train RBI personnel, bank employees and staff of other financial sector organisations in emerging technologies and cybersecurity, including artificial intelligence, big data analytics, quantum technology and blockchain. It will also undertake research to help strengthen the security and efficiency of financial systems, Malhotra said.
"Cyber security is increasingly becoming important, especially in the wake of AI," he said, adding that the institute would focus on keeping personnel abreast of the latest technological developments.
Bhubaneswar was selected for the facility partly because it is geographically distant from the RBI's three existing data centres in Maharashtra and is located in a different seismic zone. The availability of skilled talent in the city was another factor, Malhotra said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Rs 169-crore Data Centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute at Info Valley (Jatni) near Bhubaneswar, Odisha.