Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Odisha on Sunday to inaugurate the Reserve Bank of India’s Rs 169-crore data centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute, news agency Press Trust of India reported, citing officials.
The facilities in Bhubaneswar are expected to strengthen the technological foundations of India’s financial system and support the security and reliability of digital financial services.
According to the tentative itinerary, Modi will arrive at Biju Patnaik International Airport around 4.10 pm on a special Indian Air Force aircraft. He will travel by helicopter to the Khurda helipad and then proceed by road to the RBI facility at Info Valley-II in Jatni.
The Prime Minister is likely to spend an hour at the data centre. He will then return to the airport by road and is scheduled to leave Odisha around 6.30 pm.
"Another new chapter will be added to Odisha’s journey of development. The visit of the Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji to Odisha and the inauguration of RBI’s state-of-the-art data centre will not only strengthen the state’s digital infrastructure but also give new momentum to the security of the country’s financial data and the growth of the digital economy," Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said in a social media post.
Majhi said the data centre’s success would be measured by its long-term impact on digital infrastructure, financial data security and public benefit. "This will be the PM’s ninth visit to Odisha after the formation of the BJP government in the state in 2024," he said.
He said the RBI data centre at Jatni would be the second such facility after the one in Navi Mumbai.
Officials told PTI that the data centre and training institute had been designed to meet the RBI’s computing requirements and provide a secure, resilient, scalable and future-ready computing system for the central bank and the wider financial sector.
"The state-of-the-art data centre will host mission-critical payment and settlement systems, along with other flagship initiatives. The facility has been certified to Uptime Institute Tier IV standard — the global benchmark for data centre infrastructure — placing it in the highest tier of operational resilience. It is among the largest Tier IV certified facilities in the BFSI (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance) sector worldwide," an official statement said.
The statement said the data centre would help widen the reach, efficiency and reliability of digital financial services. It would also provide a secure digital base for India’s increasingly technology-driven financial economy and strengthen the RBI’s position in digital infrastructure among central banks.
The Cybersecurity Training Institute will provide a dedicated platform for cybersecurity and enterprise technology training, research and capability development across the sector. It will focus on technologies relevant to banking, financial services and insurance, including quantum computing and artificial intelligence.
The RBI facility is spread over 18.55 acres. The foundation stone for the project was laid by then RBI governor Shaktikanta Das on March 22, 2023.
An official told PTI that the Info Valley-II site was selected because of its geographical stability. It is away from seismically active zones and high-risk international border areas, reducing its exposure to natural disasters and geopolitical risks.
Odisha BJP spokesperson Anil Biswal said, "The people of Odisha warmly welcome PM Modi for bringing this significant national infrastructure project to the state. The establishment of the RBI’s data centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute is a matter of immense pride for our state".
Modi last visited Odisha four months ago to attend an event marking two years of the Majhi government.
State police have deployed around 70 platoons for the Prime Minister’s visit, with each platoon comprising 30 personnel. Traffic restrictions will be in place from 5.40 pm to 6.40 pm on Sunday along the route between the RBI data centre and the airport.
The Prime Minister’s visit will centre on the inauguration of the RBI’s new data centre and cybersecurity institute, which are intended to strengthen financial data security, digital services and technology training.
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