4 Things That You Should Know About The Upcoming 200 Rupee Note
Govt. of India has confirmed that Rs 200 currency note is, in fact, a reality, and indications are strong that the currency will hit the market very soon.
As per confirmed reports coming in, it has been revealed that printing of Rs 200 currency notes has started in full swing.
This is for the first time that a denomination of Rs 200 currency note would be introduced in India.
This is being hailed as a major step towards 'Remonetisation‘ after demonetization kicked in last November, when Govt. pulled out Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes from the market.
With Rs 200 currency note, these are the denominations of currencies which would be available in India:
Re 1, Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 200 and Rs 2000
Last month, Govt. had announced plans to redesign Re 1 currency notes and had stated that they would be printed with newer security features. The design of Rs 20 and Rs 50 currency notes were modified last year.
4 things which you need to know about this development:
The Reason Why Rs 200 Note Would Be Introduced
The biggest reason why Rs 200 currency has been introduced is the gap between Rs 500 and Rs 2000.
Due to demonetization, currencies worth Rs 15.44 lakh crore was sucked out of the system. Approximately 1,650 crore pieces of Rs 500 notes were demonetized all of a sudden, and it created chaos.
Rs 8.58 lakh crore worth of Rs 500 notes and Rs 6.86 lakh crore in Rs 1,000 were demonetized.
Rs 200 currency has been planned to bridge this gap.
An official said in the month of April, “People are still reluctant to take Rs 2000 and therefore there is still a shortage of currency notes and the need is to have lower denomination notes,”
Chief economist at the SBI Group, Soumya Kanti Ghosh said, “For day-to-day transaction purposes, the introduction of 200 rupee notes will add to the ease of operations..”, adding, “The introduction of 200 rupee notes will replenish the missing middle, triggered by the withdrawal of the old series of 500 rupee notes.”
Where Will These Notes Be Printed?
Printing of the new Rs 200 currency has already started at Govt. facilities.
As per available reports, the printing has started at Government-run Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd and at printing presses in Mysore (Karnataka) and Salboni (West Bengal), managed by the RBI-owned Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Ltd.
As per some reports, the quality testing of the new currency is being done at Govt. facility at Hoshangabad (Madhya Pradesh).
Advanced Security Features
Reports also indicate that the new Rs 200 currency notes would be having some advanced security features, some of which would be introduced for the very first time on an experimental basis.
An unnamed official said, “The new 200 notes will carry advanced security features. The authorities are taking extra precaution to prevent counterfeiting”
Stopping counterfeiting is one of the top priorities of Govt. when it comes to the new currency notes.
Distribution Channel Won’t Be ATMs
Another very interesting development: the distribution channel for Rs 200 currency notes won’t be ATMs. When the new currency notes of Rs 2000 and Rs 500 were introduced, it had become a nightmare, calibrating more than 2.5 lakh ATMs all across the nation, as they were designed for older currencies.
This time, as per reports, Rs 200 currency would be solely distributed via branches of banks, instead of ATMs.
A senior banking official said, “The idea is not to disturb the system once again, there has been disruption for more than four weeks between November and December (2016) and it is advisable to circulate these notes through the bank branches, though at present these are just proposals,”
