Plastic notes now at a market near you, one billion in circulation in select cities
The government today said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has initiated a field trial for the circulation of plastic notes in the country, with a view to elongating the life of the currency notes.
"It was decided by the government and the Reserve Bank to introduce 1 billion pieces of Rs 10 notes in polymer, plastic on a field trial basis in the cities of Kochi, Mysore, Jaipur, Bhubaneshwar and Shimla.... The process of field trial has been initiated by RBI.
"A decision to issue polymer/plastic banknotes for long term circulation will be taken on the basis of the outcome of the field trial," MoS for Finance S S Palanimanickam said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
The Minister further said that eight vendors responded to the Pre-Qualification Notice (PQN) issued by the RBI and the government has conveyed their security clearance to Reserve Bank on January 18, 2013.
The review of policy of production of currency notes is a dynamic and continuous process which is carried out in accordance with extant guidelines, Palanimanickam said.
