PM Narendra Modi Inaugurates RBI Tier-IV Data Centre and Cybersecurity Institute Worth Rs 169 Crore in Odisha
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) newly established Data Centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute at Info Valley-II in Jatni, near Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Developed at an estimated cost of Rs 169 crore, the campus marks a significant expansion of the central bank's digital sovereignty, enterprise resilience, and capacity-building framework for the broader banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector.
The inauguration was attended by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, Odisha Governor Braj Mohan Ram, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Union Minister Jual Oram, and Deputy Chief Ministers Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo and Pravati Parida.
Global Tier-IV Benchmark for Financial Systems
The new facility comprises four advanced data centres engineered to support mission-critical payment and settlement systems, including the Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system and the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system, along with various other central banking operations.
The complex has received Tier-IV certification from the Uptime Institute, representing the highest global benchmark for data centre fault tolerance and operational continuity. This places the Bhubaneswar campus among the largest Tier-IV-certified installations across the global BFSI domain, ensuring near-zero unplanned downtime for India's digital payment rails.
Describing modern data centres as "the vault of the digital age," Prime Minister Modi noted that the campus reinforces India's domestic computing capacity. He reiterated that the central government had accorded infrastructure status to data centres in 2022 and introduced fiscal measures to encourage the localization of cloud and data storage infrastructure.
Training Institute to Target AI and Quantum Threats
Operating adjacent to the primary computing units, the newly launched Cybersecurity Training Institute will serve as a dedicated institutional platform for capacity building, applied research, and threat mitigation across Indian financial entities.
The institute's core curriculum and research initiatives will address frontier technologies and structural risk vectors, including:
- Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: Deploying automated intelligence to track transaction anomalies, preempt fraud, and secure real-time retail payment gateways.
- Quantum Computing: Formulating post-quantum cryptography standards to safeguard financial encryption protocols against advanced decryption technologies.
- Enterprise Cyber Defense: Providing executive and technical training to banking professionals to bridge the specialized cybersecurity talent deficit in the financial sector.
Strategic Implications for Indian Markets and BFSI
For institutional investors, commercial lenders, and fintech enterprises, the establishment of an indigenous, Tier-IV RBI computing ecosystem mitigates systemic counterparty and technological risks. Rapid volume expansion in digital transactions—led by the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and high-value wholesale clearing—has made infrastructure availability a crucial determinant of macroeconomic stability.
By anchoring core settlement operations in Bhubaneswar, the RBI strengthens its geographical redundancy away from existing primary financial hubs, ensuring business continuity against regional network failures or severe disruptions. The move also positions Odisha as a growing destination for fintech, data center assets, and enterprise security operations on India's eastern seaboard.
