Union Minister Piyush Goyal stated that India does not support cryptocurrencies that lack sovereign or asset backing, such as those not backed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) or local currency.
He emphasized that India will soon introduce a digital currency backed by an RBI guarantee, aimed at simplifying transactions, reducing paper usage, and enabling faster, traceable payments compared to traditional banking methods.
“We have not been encouraging cryptocurrency, which does not have sovereign backing or which is not backed by assets, say it on the federal bank or local currency. India has also announced that we will be coming out with a digital currency, which will be backed by a Reserve Bank of India guarantee-like currency. Our idea is that this will only make it easier to transact. It will also reduce paper consumption and will be faster to transact than the banking system. But it will also have traceability,” Goyal said.
He clarified that while cryptocurrencies without Central government backing are not banned, they are heavily taxed to discourage usage due to the risks associated with lack of backing and accountability.
“As far as cryptocurrency, which is not backed by the Central government [is concerned], while there is no ban as such, we are taxing it very heavily. We don’t encourage it because we don’t want anybody to be stuck at some point with a cryptocurrency that has no backing and nobody at the backend,” he added.
Goyal also discussed India’s efforts to expand bilateral trade. On a recent visit to Doha, he noted that India aims to finalise a free trade agreement (FTA) with Qatar by mid or third quarter of next year, if not earlier. Qatar is a key trading partner for India within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), with bilateral trade exceeding USD 14.15 billion in 2024–25.
During discussions with Qatari Minister Sheikh Faisal bin Thani bin Faisal Al Thani, both sides agreed to fast-track FTA negotiations to support their goal of doubling bilateral trade. India has already secured trade agreements with the UAE and is expected to finalise one with Oman soon.
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