RBI Unveils Unified Markets Interface: Revolutionizing Asset Tokenization in India’s Digital Finance Landscape

Published on October 11, 2025

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Delhi, India

RBI’s Unified Markets Interface

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced the Unified Markets Interface (UMI), a next-generation financial market infrastructure designed to transform asset tokenization and settlements in India.
Announced amid India’s push for digital innovation, UMI leverages blockchain and wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to democratize access to high-value assets like government securities, bonds, and derivatives.
This initiative aligns with Viksit Bharat@2047, aiming to enhance market liquidity, transparency, and financial inclusion for over 160 million linked accounts in the ecosystem.

RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra unveiled UMI at the Global Fintech Fest 2025, describing it as a groundbreaking framework for tokenizing assets and enabling instant settlements via wholesale CBDC.
The launch coincides with four new digital payment products: UPI HELP (AI-powered transaction support), IoT Payments with UPI (machine-to-machine transactions), Banking Connect (interoperable net banking), and UPI Reserve Pay (credit limit reservations for recurring payments).
Early pilots under the Digital Rupee project show promising results in reducing settlement risks and improving efficiency.

UMI is a unified platform that converts real-world financial assets into digital tokens on blockchain or distributed ledgers, enabling fractional ownership and global trading.
Unlike retail CBDC for everyday use, wholesale CBDC under UMI targets institutional transactions, providing a secure, intermediary-free settlement layer.
It builds on Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for seamless data integration, complementing frameworks like Account Aggregator (AA) for secure financial data sharing.

Assets such as Treasury bills, corporate bonds, and commodities are tokenized into digital representations, traded 24/7 on blockchain platforms.
Settlements occur in real-time using wholesale CBDC, with smart contracts automating clearing, verification, and execution to minimize risks and costs.
Integration ensures interoperability across systems, allowing cross-border participation and traceable transactions via immutable records.

Objectives: Enhance market efficiency, promote fractional ownership for small investors, reduce intermediaries, and foster global interoperability to deepen financial inclusion.
Benefits: Boosts liquidity in illiquid markets, cuts settlement times from days to seconds, improves transparency to curb fraud, and lowers operational costs—positioning India alongside leaders like Singapore and Switzerland.
Implications: Democratizes investments, supports a $30 trillion economy by 2047, and drives innovation in tokenized securities.

UMI synergizes with the AA framework, now serving 17 aggregators, 650 Financial Information Users, and 150 providers, processing 3.66 billion data requests for better onboarding and consent management.
New standards for AA focus on data security, user interfaces, and interoperability, while UPI innovations expand digital payments.
Broader RBI efforts include pilots for deposit tokenization, emphasizing ethical AI and blockchain adoption.

Challenges: Regulatory gaps in token custody and trading, infrastructure limitations in DPI, cybersecurity risks, and low awareness among investors could slow adoption.
Mitigation and Plans: Develop comprehensive legal frameworks, enhance fraud detection, and launch awareness campaigns; expand UMI pilots for standardized token issuance and multi-stakeholder collaborations.
Future: Integrate with global systems for cross-border tokenization, aiming for a fully digital market by 2030.