India's government may consider stablecoin framework, diverging from RBI

India's government is about to drop some serious crypto energy — they're considering stablecoin regulations in the Economic Survey 2025-2026. But here's the plot twist: the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is hitting the brakes with a "cautious" approach while pushing their own CBDC. Classic government vs central bank drama unfolding.

The government will "present its case" for stablecoins in the annual report published by India's Ministry of Finance — that's the official policy bible outlining economic recommendations. MoneyControl broke the story, citing an official who's clearly in the know.

Meanwhile, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra dropped some real talk at the Delhi School of Economics: "We have a very cautious approach towards crypto because of various concerns that we have. Of course, the government has to take a final view. There is a working group which was set up earlier, and they will make a final call as to how, if at all, crypto is to be handled in our country."

Malhotra straight-up dismissed FOMO about India needing to copy US stablecoin moves after the GENIUS bill passed in June. His reasoning? India's got that digital payments infrastructure on lock — UPI running 24/7, NEFT settling hourly, and RTGS handling those big boy transactions. Basically: "We good."

If India actually regulates crypto, this would be a massive 180 from their long-standing anti-crypto stance. We're talking about legitimizing digital assets in the world's most populous country — which could send adoption and prices absolutely parabolic.

Back in October, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal gave us that classic politician non-answer: the government neither encourages nor discourages crypto. But then he threw shade, questioning crypto as an asset class because most don't have "sovereign backing or underlying assets."