MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had a problem with an excess of 339.95 million currency notes deposited in its lockers between 1999-2010, more than what the government’s security printing presses could produce. However, now a different case has come to the fore. Mints issued 8,810.65 million notes of the new Rs 500 design, but RBI received only 7,260 million notes. The value of the missing notes is Rs 88,032.5 crore.
500 notes mysteriously disappeared
No one knows the whereabouts of 1,760.65 million Rs 500 notes that mysteriously disappeared, including 210 million notes printed at the Nashik Mint between April 2015 and March 2016, according to a newspaper report. The value of the missing notes is Rs 88,032.5 crore. Despite repeated attempts, an RBI spokesperson declined to comment on the disappearance of the notes from the RBI vault.
Notes are printed here
Indian official notes are printed at three government mints namely Reserve Bank Note Mudra (P) Ltd., Bangalore, Mudra Note Press, Nashik, and Bank Note Press, Dewas. Then, the Reserve Bank of India sends it to the vault.
Big disclosure from RTI
Activist Manoranjan Roy obtained this information under the Right to Information Act. 375.450 million new design Rs 500 notes were printed by the Nashik Currency Note Press, but only 345.000 million notes printed between April 2015 and December 2016 were found in RBI records. Last month, in response to another RTI, the Nashik Currency Note Press said that Rs 500 notes worth Rs 210 million were supplied to the RBI for the financial year 2015-2016 (April 2015-March 2016) when Raghuram Rajan was the head of the Reserve Bank. Was the chairman.
Where did so many 500 rupee notes go?
A report from the Nashik Currency Note Press revealed that the new design of Rs 500 notes has been supplied to the Reserve Bank of India, but the new Rs 500 notes are not mentioned in the RBI’s annual report, which is in the public domain. Additional information provided by the Nashik Currency Note Press shows that 500 notes of the new design worth ₹1,662,000 were supplied to the Reserve Bank of India in 2016-2017.
RBI did not get 500 notes
Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (P) Ltd., Bangalore supplied Rs 500 notes worth Rs 5,195.65 million to the Reserve Bank of India during 2016-2017. While Bank Note Press Dewas supplied 500 notes worth Rs 1902163 crore. RBI has received only 7,260 million new design Rs 500 notes from three mints. However, there is a discrepancy as the three mints together printed 8,810.65 million notes of the new Rs 500 design, but the RBI received only 7,260 million notes.
So many notes missing
The Reserve Bank is indifferent to this huge discrepancy in the Indian economy, such a huge discrepancy between the number of high denomination Indian currency notes printed at the mint and the total amount received in the Reserve Bank’s coffers. The disappearance of 1,760.65 crore notes is no joke. This raises security concerns regarding our Indian economy and its stability, Manoranjan Roy said. The RTI activist has written to the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau and the ED in this regard.
