Central Banking, London selected RBI for Digital Transformation Award, PM Modi said - commendable achievement
RBI was honored for its digital initiatives called 'Pravah' and 'Saarthi', which were developed by the in-house developer team of the central bank.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on being selected for the Digital Transformation Award 2025 by the London-based Central Banking of the United Kingdom (UK). PM Modi quoted RBI's post on social media platform X and wrote that this is a commendable achievement, which shows innovation and efficiency in governance.
He further wrote that digital innovation is strengthening India's digital ecosystem, empowering the lives of a large number of people. RBI was honored for its digital initiatives called 'Pravah' and 'Saarthi', which were developed by the in-house developer team of the central bank. The awards committee acknowledged how these digital initiatives have reduced the use of paper-based submissions, transforming RBI's internal and external processes.
Launched in January 2023, Saarathi digitized RBI's internal workflows, allowing employees to securely submit and share documents. This has improved record management. Also, employees can analyze data through reports and dashboards.
Saarathi has helped RBI increase operational efficiency by automating processes. While earlier many departments of the RBI relied on a fragmented mix of manual and digital processes, Saarathi creates a unified global repository for the central bank's information.
Pravah launched in May 2024, is a digital medium for external users to submit regulatory applications to the RBI. Documents submitted and processed through the portal are plugged into the Saarathi database, where they can be handled digitally across RBI offices with centralized cybersecurity systems and digital tracking.
Pravah has so far digitized over 70 different regulatory applications, helping the work of nine departments of the RBI. Between its launch in May and the end of 2024, over 2,000 applications were filed through the system, marking an 80 percent increase in monthly applications. This is due to the ease of use of the portal.
