Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the government is working out a new bill on cryptocurrency which will be placed in the ongoing session of Parliament after approval of the Union Cabinet. The ongoing winter session is scheduled to end on December 23.

Replying to a series of questions in the Rajya Sabha, she said the new Bill takes into account the rapidly changing dimensions in virtual currency space, and incorporate features of the earlier bill that could not be taken up.

The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, has been included in the Lok Sabha Bulletin-Part II for the introduction in the ongoing winter session.

The bill seeks to create a facilitative framework for the creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Bulletin said.

It also seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India. However, it allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses.

“Yes, last time (monsoon session) there was a bill but subsequently because there were other dimensions... That bill has been reworked. And in a way the bill which is coming now is a new bill. But, never mind, the work done on that bill has all been taken on board here,” the minister said.

Sitharaman said the government had “genuine intent” to bring the bill even during the last session.

“Now, we are coming up with a new bill. So, it’s not as if, the last time we just put

it there, we did not want to come up with one. So, leading to a suspicion that this time also we are putting a bill, we may not come up with one. No, let’s be clear on that the earlier attempt was definitely to come up with a bill which the house can consider,” she added.