Govt tells Parliament: No Rs 2000 currency note printed in two years

Did you know that the Reserve Bank of India's currency printing presses have not been printing 2000 Rupee notes for the last two years? Well, that is exactly what the government has revealed in Parliament.

Responding to a question posed in Lok Sabha by MDMK MP Avinashi Ganeshamurthi, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur said that no indent had been placed with the presses for printing of 2000 Rupee denomination banknotes during 2019-20 and 2020-21.

The MDMK parliamentarian had sought to know whether the government was aware of the fact that the circulation of Rs 2000 currency notes among the people was very low and that it was not even available in many banks and ATMs.

Citing Reserve Bank of India data, MoS Finance said that out of the 3362 mpcs (million pieces) of 2000 Rupee banknotes comprising 3.27 per cent of the volume of notes in circulation and 37.26 per cent of the total value of notes in circulation, 2499 mpcs were in circulation as on February 26, 2021.

As of February 26, Rs 2000 banknotes constituted just 2.01 per cent of the volume of notes in circulation and 17.78% of the total value of banknotes in circulation.

To recall, the 2000 Rupee banknote was introduced in India on November 8, 2016, after the Narendra Modi government banned the old 500 Rupee and 1,000 Rupee banknotes.