RBI planning to issue Rs200 notes and new series Rs500 notes: report

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is planning to introduce Rs200 notes on the lines of the newly-introduced Rs2,000 denomination notes and a new series Rs1,000 notes, all with improved security features as part of the government's fight against counterfeit currency and black money.

The new notes will come with additional security features, while RBI has also proposed changing features of all notes every 3-4 years.

However, reports said it has not yet been notified by the central government and work on printing the Rs200 note would be only after the central government notifies the proposal.

Like Rs10, Rs20, Rs50 and Rs100, the RBI is planning to bring, Rs100, Rs200, Rs500 and Rs1,000 in future, reports quoting source said.

A report published by Live Mint said that RBI board has already cleared a proposal to introduce banknotes of Rs200 denomination. However, RBI's publicity department has not yet issued any notification regarding the proposal.

Reports said while the government earlier declared old Rs500 and Rs1,000 as invalid with immediate effect in a move to curb black money and fake notes, it may now change the design of Rs500 notes, while the Rs2,000 currency notes may be withdrawn over time.

To check counterfeiting and for better security, the central bank has also proposed changing features of all notes every 3-4 years, they added.

Meanwhile, the RBI has been authorised to conduct field trials of plastic Rs10 bank notes.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, minister of state for finance Arjun Ram Meghwal had last month said "it has been decided" to conduct a field trial with plastic notes at five locations of the country.

While the minister said that the plastic notes are expected to last longer than the existing cotton substrate- based banknotes, durability is only one of the factors that may have prompted this change in thinking

The plastic notes will also be difficult to imitate, offer better security features and will also be more energy efficient.

Central banks across the world have been exploring different solutions like plastic notes to have better security and easy movement.

Currently, 20 countries including Canada, New Zealand, Vietnam and Australia use polymer or plastic notes.