Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the Reserve Bank of India’s Rs 169-crore Data Centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute at Info Valley-II in Jatni, near Bhubaneswar, on October 25, 2026. (Img: X)
Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated the Reserve Bank of India’s Rs 169-crore Data Centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute at Info Valley-II in Jatni, near Bhubaneswar, marking a significant step towards strengthening the technological backbone of India’s financial system. The new infrastructure is designed to support mission-critical banking operations, protect sensitive financial data and enhance the resilience of digital payment and settlement systems.
The facility, spread across 18.55 acres, combines advanced data infrastructure with a dedicated institutional platform for cybersecurity training, research and technology development. The data centre has received the Uptime Institute’s Tier IV certification, a globally recognised benchmark for data centre infrastructure resilience, placing it in the highest tier of the certification framework. The project is expected to strengthen the Reserve Bank of India’s computing capabilities while supporting the expanding technology requirements of the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector.
Addressing the inauguration programme, Modi described the facility as an important addition to India’s institutional and digital infrastructure. He congratulated those involved in the project and highlighted the role of technology in modernising financial services, expanding access to banking and ensuring that the benefits of economic development reach citizens across the country.
India’s financial ecosystem has undergone a major digital transformation, with electronic fund transfers, real-time payments, digital banking and technology-driven financial services becoming increasingly central to everyday transactions. This expansion has also raised the importance of secure data storage, operational continuity, disaster recovery and robust cyber defence mechanisms.
The RBI’s new data infrastructure is intended to support mission-critical payment and settlement systems alongside other key central bank initiatives. These systems form an essential part of the financial infrastructure that enables transactions to be processed, funds to be transferred and banking services to operate reliably.
The facility is designed around secure, resilient, scalable and future-ready computing requirements. Its Tier IV certification reflects a high standard of infrastructure resilience, with the certification framework emphasising fault tolerance and continuity of critical operations. Such capabilities are particularly important for financial institutions, where prolonged technology disruptions can affect transaction processing, service availability and confidence in digital systems.
The location at Info Valley-II in Jatni was selected partly for its geographical stability, away from seismically active zones and high-risk international border areas. The site selection is intended to reduce exposure to certain natural and geopolitical risks, strengthening the broader approach to protecting critical financial infrastructure.
The project’s foundation stone was laid by then RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on March 22, 2023. Its inauguration marks the completion of a major infrastructure initiative aimed at meeting the central bank’s evolving computing needs and supporting the wider financial sector’s growing dependence on digital technology.
Alongside the data centre, the Cybersecurity Training Institute is expected to build specialised expertise in cybersecurity, enterprise computing and emerging technologies relevant to the financial sector.
The institute will provide a dedicated platform for professional training, applied research and capacity building, helping strengthen the technical capabilities required to protect financial systems against evolving cyber threats. Its focus areas include artificial intelligence, quantum computing and other frontier technologies that could reshape financial services, data protection and digital risk management.
As financial institutions increasingly rely on interconnected digital platforms, the threat landscape has expanded to include data breaches, ransomware, identity theft, payment fraud and attacks targeting critical information technology infrastructure. Cybersecurity preparedness therefore requires not only advanced hardware and software, but also trained personnel, threat monitoring, incident response planning and the ability to adapt to emerging attack methods.
The new institute is expected to contribute to this capability-building effort by developing expertise relevant to the banking, financial services and insurance sector. Its research and training functions could also help strengthen institutional preparedness as financial technology evolves and cyber risks become more sophisticated.
During the inauguration, Modi highlighted the transformation in India’s banking and public service delivery systems, linking digital infrastructure with improved access to financial services.
Referring to a former Prime Minister’s observation that only a fraction of funds sent from Delhi reached intended beneficiaries, Modi said technology-enabled direct benefit transfers had changed the process, allowing government assistance to be credited directly to beneficiaries’ bank accounts.
He also pointed to the wider adoption of debit and credit cards, noting that payment instruments once perceived as being primarily accessible to wealthier sections of society had become much more widely available.
The remarks placed the RBI project within the broader context of financial inclusion, digital public infrastructure and technology-led governance. Digital banking channels and electronic payment systems have expanded the ways citizens access financial services, while direct benefit transfers have become an important mechanism for transferring eligible government assistance into bank accounts.
The reliability and security of the underlying financial infrastructure remain essential to this transformation. As more citizens and businesses depend on digital transactions, resilient systems and stronger cybersecurity safeguards become increasingly important to maintaining trust in electronic payments and banking services.
The inauguration also marks a significant addition to Odisha’s technology and institutional infrastructure. The facility is located at Info Valley-II in Jatni, near Bhubaneswar, and is expected to support the RBI’s computing requirements while contributing to the development of a stronger digital financial ecosystem.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi welcomed the project as an addition to Odisha’s development journey. Modi arrived in the state after his engagements in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, and was received by state dignitaries, including the Chief Minister and Governor Braj Mohan Ram. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also attended the inauguration programme.
The project aligns with the wider need to expand high-quality infrastructure beyond established metropolitan technology centres. Secure data facilities, specialist training institutions and advanced computing capabilities are becoming increasingly important as India’s economy grows more dependent on digital transactions and technology-enabled public services.
For the RBI, the new infrastructure represents an investment in computing capacity, operational resilience and cybersecurity expertise. For the wider financial sector, it underscores the growing importance of reliable payment systems, secure data management and skilled professionals capable of responding to an evolving threat environment.
As India’s digital economy expands, the strength of its financial system will depend not only on the adoption of new payment technologies but also on the reliability, security and resilience of the infrastructure supporting them. The inauguration of the RBI’s data centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute represents a step in that direction.
