NEW DELHI
Interestingly, even as the nation is pitching in for India first policy to crackdown on the black money with this bold move, the new notes being printed are not 100 per cent made in India.
Insider details of RBI printing press reveal that currently there are 4 currency printing press running full steam with three shifts and no lunch breaks for the staff.
Two currency printing press operated directly under RBI are part of Security Printing and Mining Corporation of India (SPMCI) in Dewas (MP) & Nashik (Maharashtra). In Nashik 90 lakh notes are being printed each day on 2 lines, where priority is being given to smaller denomination notes of 500 rupee.
In Madhya Pradesh, Dewas printing mill has 3 lines and around 90 lakh notes of 500 rupee denominations are being printed each day.
The other two are operated by RBI’s subsidiary Bharatyia Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private limited (BRBNPL) in Mysuru (Karnataka) and Salboni (West Bengal) both shelling out 4 cr pieces of 2000 rupee notes.
However, around 16 million tonnes of paper is being rolled out by a mill in Hoshangabad but due to unprecedented demand, now paper is being sourced from United Kingdom as well. Sources in the RBI revealed that around 16 million tonne of paper is being imported from the UK. That’s not all, RBI is even sourcing the specialised security thread used in new notes from across Italy, Ukraine and UK.
“The new note that you will have is not completely Indian made. Due to high demand we are sourcing paper roll in 50:50 ratio from UK and Hoshangabad. Even security thread is outsourced to Ukraine, UK and Italy,” said a senior official in RBI.
Interestingly, the intaglio ink used to print the notes is supplied from Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim and Rajasthan but its also produced abroad and then sourced from local centres.
“Each batch of notes takes 8 days to print and we can’t waste time sourcing our materials”, said a senior official in RBI on condition of anonymity.
According to sources, in the recent past RBI did opt to print entire Indian currency abroad in 1997 when Bimal Jalan took over from Rangarajan as the RBI Governor. There was a shortfall of notes which required signature of the new Governor.
New notes were sourced from UK, Canada, America and Germany at an estimated cost of over $90 million. But soon after security concerns were raised over counterfeiting and giving information access to foreign printing center.
Even if all the printing lines work in an ideal scenario with no misprinting or damaged notes in 3 shifts, it will take atleast 5 months for cash supply to normalise.
