Top U.S. tech giants such as Amazon and Google are reportedly looking to join India's central bank digital currency pilot, as the Reserve Bank of India opens its digital currency initiative to non-bank payment firms.

According to sources cited by Reuters, AmazonPay, GooglePay, and Walmart-backed PhonePe have expressed interest in facilitating transactions with India's CBDC, known as the e-rupee. Additionally, Indian fintech companies Cred and Mobikwik have also applied to join the pilot, although the timeline for their participation remains unclear.

Initially, only Indian banks were authorized to facilitate e-rupee transactions through their mobile applications. However, in April, the RBI announced that payment firms could soon be integrated into the pilot program as well.