The Reserve Bank of India [Get Quote] plans to come up with an approach paper soon to encourage migration of high-value cheques clearing operations to electronic platform, its deputy governor Shyamala Gopinath said on Monday.

This will help significantly reduce the clearing time required for high-value transactions, besides minimising related risks, Gopinath said at a CII-organised seminar in Mumbai.

On an average, India's central bank handles around 60,000 real time gross settlement and about 50-lakh (5-million) cheque clearing transactions per day, Gopinath said.

The central bank has plans to shift all retail payment and settlement activities except RTGS transactions to a separate entity - National Payment Corporation of India.

RBI, which at present handles all payment and settlement activities, recently deputed its Chief General Manager A P Hota as the interim CEO of NPCI.

The apex bank was also planning to implement the cheque truncation system in other parts of the country in the near future, Gopinath said.

Using CTS, banks can send images instead of paper cheques for the purpose of clearing and settlement. RBI has implemented CTS system in the national capital region. In the next phase, CTS will be implemented in Chennai covering the southern region, Gopinath said.

Noting that the economic downturn has posed challenges to the country's banking sector, Gopinath said banks should make use of the technology more effectively to offer efficient and cost-effective services.

With the financial downturn, the IT spending of Indian banks might slow down in the next financial year, she said.

Later, talking to reporters, Gopinath said the apex bank would ensure that Government's market borrowing programme would be conducted in a smooth and non-disruptive manner.