Rs 2000 Notes Not Printed In Last 2 Years!

New Delhi: No new Rs 2,000 currency notes have been printed in the last two years even as the quantum of India’s highest denomination currency note has come down, the Centre told the Lok Sabha on Monday. Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur, in a written reply to a query, said 3,362 million currency notes of Rs 2000 denomination were in circulation on March 30, 2018, comprising 3.27 percent and 37.26 percent of the currency in terms of volume and trade respectively. As of February 26, 2021, 2,499 million pieces of Rs 2,000 notes were in circulation, constituting 2.01 percent and 17.78 percent of banknotes in terms of volume and value, respectively.

Printing of banknotes of a particular denomination is decided by the government in consultation with RBI to maintain desired denomination mix for facilitating transactional demand of the public.

“During the years 2019-20 and 2020-21, no indent has been placed with the presses for printing of Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes,” he said.

The move is seen as an attempt to prevent hoarding of the high-value currency and thus, curb black money. The Rs 2,000 notes were introduced in November 2016, soon after the government withdrew Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in an attempt to curb black money and fake currencies.