The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has set up a state-of-the-art, high-security data centre in Odisha as part of its broader strategy to fortify India’s financial infrastructure against emerging risks. The move reflects the central bank’s focus on ensuring operational continuity, cybersecurity, and systemic resilience in an increasingly digital banking ecosystem.
This new facility becomes RBI’s second major data hub, complementing its Primary Data Centre located in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. By geographically diversifying its core infrastructure, the central bank aims to reduce concentration risk and enhance redundancy in critical financial operations.
Strategic Location for Risk Diversification
Unlike major digital hubs such as Mumbai and Chennai — which host a dense network of data centres and serve as landing stations for key subsea communication cables — Odisha offers relative insulation from high-traffic digital corridors and cross-border risk zones.
The decision to place a secure data facility in eastern India underscores the importance of geographical risk mitigation. Recent geopolitical tensions in the region have highlighted the vulnerability of centralised digital infrastructure. In fact, reports last year suggested that a leading commercial bank temporarily relocated certain data operations amid heightened security concerns, reinforcing the need for distributed and resilient infrastructure planning.
By situating the new centre in Odisha, RBI has strategically positioned itself away from high seismic-risk areas and potential cross-border disruptions, thereby strengthening its disaster recovery and business continuity framework.
Aligning with Global Best Practices
Globally, central banks and financial regulators are increasingly investing in proprietary, highly secure data centres to protect critical financial systems. Direct ownership and operational control allow stricter cybersecurity enforcement, enhanced compliance with regulatory standards, and improved contingency planning.
Financial data is widely regarded as critical national infrastructure. Safeguarding it from cyber threats, vendor dependency risks, and operational disruptions has become a top priority for monetary authorities worldwide.
The RBI’s strategy mirrors international practices adopted by institutions such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States, which operates secure and redundant facilities — including the East Rutherford Operations Center — to maintain uninterrupted payment and settlement systems.
Tier IV Certification and Cloud Integration
The Odisha data centre has achieved Tier IV certification, the highest benchmark for data centre reliability and fault tolerance. This certification signifies that the facility is designed with multiple layers of redundancy, ensuring near-zero downtime even in the event of hardware failures or external disruptions.
In addition to expanding physical infrastructure, RBI has also taken steps toward digital modernisation. In 2025, the central bank launched a pilot cloud initiative with data centres in Mumbai and Hyderabad. The initiative aims to provide secure, localised cloud storage solutions tailored for financial institutions operating within India.
The integration of high-security physical infrastructure with domestic cloud capabilities signals a comprehensive approach to safeguarding India’s financial ecosystem.
Strengthening Financial Resilience
As digital transactions, real-time payments, and online banking continue to grow rapidly, robust backend infrastructure has become indispensable. RBI’s new data centre in Odisha represents a proactive step toward ensuring that India’s financial systems remain secure, resilient, and uninterrupted under all circumstances.
By prioritising geographic diversification, high-tier security standards, and cloud-based innovation, the central bank is reinforcing its commitment to protecting the nation’s financial backbone in an era of rising cyber and geopolitical risks.
📝 Summary
The Reserve Bank of India has inaugurated a Tier IV-certified, high-security data centre in Odisha to enhance financial system resilience. Strategically located away from high-risk zones, the facility complements RBI’s primary centre in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. The initiative aligns with global best practices, strengthens cybersecurity safeguards, and supports the central bank’s broader cloud expansion efforts in Mumbai and Hyderabad, ensuring robust and uninterrupted financial operations.
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