Indian Government begins printing 200 rupee notes

It seems that India is ready to step into an era of new currency notes. The re-monetization exercise is said to be in its final stages after an announcement by the central bank saying that they will soon start to print the new 200 rupee note. Aimed at easing consumer transaction, this is the first time such a note has been printed.

In a report by the Economic Times, the notes bearing a denomination of 200 rupees are being printed in a government-owned facility after the Reserve bank Of India placed an order for the same.

Although the RBI chose not to comment on the matter, the group chief economist at the SBI Group, Soumya Kanti Ghosh said, “For day-to-day transaction purposes, the introduction of 200 rupee notes will add to the ease of operations,”.

The introduction of the 200 rupee currency note  comes after the massive de-monetizing exercise carried out by the government in November, where they withdrew bills of large denominations as a part of a drive to curb untaxed cash and counterfeiting.

In the early days of de-monetization, the RBI had proposed issuing the Rs 200 note and the government were on board with the idea.  According to data from State Bank of India ‘s BSE -1.39 % research India, is Asia’s third largest economy and before the November 8 de-monetization exercise there was roughly 1650 crore pieces of Rs 500 notes in circulation. And removing these notes from circulation created a humongous gap in the value of notes circulated.

The Indian government hopes to fill this void by adding new notes of smaller denominations to circulation. As per Ghosh, “A minor part of that has been replenished by 2000 rupee notes and a larger part by the new 500 rupee notes, though not in full.” As per a source aware of the printing schedule, “The introduction of 200 rupee note will carry advanced security features. The authorities are taking extra precaution to prevent counterfeiting. ” The person added that the new notes being printed are going through rigorous security and quality checks at the government’s press unit at Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh.