The government on Saturday said the RBI has been authorised to conduct field trials of plastic notes of Rs 10 that have a longer life span.
In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal said “it has been decided” to conduct a field trial with plastic banknotes at five locations of the country.
Approval for procurement of plastic substrate and printing of bank notes of Rs 10 denomination on plastic banknote substrates has been conveyed to the RBI, the minister said.
He further said plastic notes are expected to last longer than cotton substrate based banknotes.
Over the years, central banks across the world have been exploring different solutions like plastic notes and other developments in banknote substrates for extending the life cycle of banknotes. The minister also said an inter-disciplinary Standing Committee on Cyber Security has been constituted to review the threats inherent in the existing and emerging technology and suggest appropriate policy interventions to strengthen cyber security and resilience.
Almost a week back, the Reserve Bank (RBI) had announced to issue Rs 10 denomination notes with enhanced security features for circulation. The RBI said that the banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi series-2005 are to carry inset letter ‘L’ on both number panels, bearing the signature of Governor Urjit Patel. The year of printing, 2017, will be on the reverse of the note. Among other features, numerals on both the panels will be in ascending size from left to right
The Indian 10-rupee banknote is a common denomination of the Indian rupee. The 10 rupee note was one of the first notes introduced by the Reserve Bank of India as a part of the Mahatma Gandhi Series in 1996, which is presently in circulation. The 10-rupee banknote has been issued and had been in circulation since colonial times, and in continuous production since Reserve Bank of India took over the functions of the controller of currency in India in 1923.
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