India Shifting Gears to Plastic currency Notes from Paper Notes
The Government on Thursday informed parliament that a decision has been taken to print plastic currency notes.The procurement of material for plastic currency has also started.
“It has been decided to print banknotes based on plastic or polymer substrate. The process of procurement has been initiated,” Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal said in a written reply in Lok Sabha to a query whether RBI proposes to print plastic currency notes in place of paper ones.
The reserve bank has long been planning to bring plastic currency in circulation.If we go back to 2014, the government then informed parliament that they one billion plastic notes of Rs 10 would be released on trial basis in 5 Cities.The cities were selected based on geographical and climatic diversity. The cities included Kochi, Mysore, Jaipur, Shimla and Bhubaneshwar.
Plastic currency notes have many advantages over paper notes.Plastic notes have long lifespan when compared with paper notes. There is also a minimal chance for the creation of fake notes often seen in the case of paper currency notes.
Answering to another question, Meghwal said it was informed by RBI in December 2015 that they have received a few banknotes of Rs 1,000 without having security string which were printed at Currency Note Press (CNP), Nashik, on paper provided by Security Paper Mill (SPM), Hoshangabad. An inquiry has been started by Security Printing and Minting Corporation (SPMCIL) and the units involved (SPM and CNP).
Meghwal additionally said that a move has been made to strengthen method and online review framework in manufacturing procedure and the persons involved were given special training to prevent the recurrence of such mistakes in the future.
