• The facility: Spread across 18.55 acres, with the foundation stone laid on 22 March 2023 by then RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.
• Data Centre: Will host mission-critical payment and settlement systems, and form the secure digital foundation for India’s technology-driven financial economy. It is the second of its kind after Navi Mumbai.
• Cybersecurity Training Institute: A dedicated institutional platform for cybersecurity and enterprise-technology training, research and sector-wide capability building.
• Site choice: Chosen for geographical stability, away from seismically active zones and high-risk international border areas, reducing exposure to natural disasters and geopolitical vulnerabilities.

PM’s message:

• Wars are now fought through economies as well as weapons, so the banking system must be protected from cyber threats using modern infrastructure and skilled human resources.
• Eastern India is emerging as a growth engine of “Viksit Bharat”, and Odisha will write its future in sectors “from mines to microchips”.
• About 60 crore Jan Dhan accounts have been opened, and benefits now reach beneficiaries’ accounts in full.

• Present at the event: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, Governor Brajmohan Ram and CM Mohan Charan Majhi. Majhi said it was the PM’s ninth visit to Odisha since the BJP government formed in 2024.

• RBI: India’s central bank, established on 1 April 1935 under the RBI Act, 1934, and nationalised in 1949. It issues currency, regulates banks and manages payment systems.
• Payment systems: The Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 empowers the RBI to regulate them, including RTGS, NEFT and UPI (run by NPCI).
• Jan Dhan Yojana: Launched in 2014 for universal financial inclusion, offering zero-balance accounts, RuPay cards and insurance.
• Bank nationalisation: Major banks were nationalised in 1969 (14 banks) and 1980 (6 banks).
• Cybersecurity framework: The IT Act, 2000 and CERT-In, the national agency for cyber incidents, with the RBI issuing its own cybersecurity guidelines for banks.
• Info Valley: Odisha’s IT and electronics hub at Jatni near Bhubaneswar.

The RBI’s role in payment and settlement systems, the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, Jan Dhan Yojana and financial inclusion, CERT-In and the IT Act, 2000, and Odisha’s Info Valley as an IT hub are recurring themes for OPSC Prelims (Economy, Current Events) and OPSC Mains GS Paper III (Economy, Internal Security).

For structured notes on Odisha-specific current affairs, aspirants preparing in Bhubaneswar can join the OPSC Foundation Batch at Strive Edge IAS — recognized as one of the best OPSC OAS coaching institutes in Bhubaneswar.