Demonetisation: New Rs 1,000 notes with enhanced safety features by December, says report

Preparations are in full swing at the Reserve Bank of India to introduce new Rs 1,000 notes with enhanced safety features by December, according to a report in the DNA newspaper. “The printing presses at Mysore and Salboni are getting ready to print the brand-new Rs 1,000 notes which will have enhanced security features,” the person has been quoted as saying in the report. [caption id=“attachment_3982615” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] According to the person, the printing of Rs 2,000 notes was stopped about six months back. Now, the focus is on Rs 200 notes, introduced on Friday in a bid to ease the shortage in lower denomination currencies. However, the notes are still not available in ATMs as recalibaration of the machines has not been done yet. The government had demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on 8 November 2016 with a stated objective of ending black money generation, terror funding and also moving the country towards cashless economy. The move sucked out about 86 percent of the cash in the system, creating an artificial cash crunch that impacted individuals lives and businesses. In a bid to meet cash requirements, the RBI introduced a new denomination - Rs 2,000 notes. It also introduced new Rs 500 notes and recently Rs 200 notes. However, the huge gap between the Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes is creating trouble for the common man as exchange has become a major trouble. The introduction of the Rs 1,000 notes is likely to address this problem. Soon after the demonetisation announcement, the government had said that the Rs 1,000 notes will be reintroduced with new colour. “In a few months, new color combination and new design Rs 1000 notes will be released,” then department of economic affairs secretary had said at the first press conference after the note ban on 10 November 2016. A week later on 17 November, finance minister Arun Jaitley had, however, said that there were no plans to reintroduce the denomination in the immediate future. “As of now, there is no plan to reintroduce Rs 1,000 note,” he had said.