The government on Friday informed the Parliament that a decision has been taken to print plastic currency notes. Procurement of the material has already begun.
The Reserve Bank has for a long time been planning to launch plastic currency note after field trials.
In February 2014, the government had informed Parliament that one billion plastic notes of Rs 10 denomination would be introduced in a field trial in five cities selected for their geographical and climatic diversity. The selected cities were Kochi, Mysore, Jaipur, Shimla and Bhubaneswar.
Replying to another question, Meghwal said he was informed by the RBI in December 2015 that they received some banknotes of Rs 1,000 which didn’t have security threads. They were printed at the Currency Note Press (CNP), Nashik, on paper supplied by Security Paper Mill (SPM), Hoshangabad.
An enquiry has been initiated by the Security Printing and Minting Corporation (SPMCIL) and the units involved (SPM and CNP).
"Major penalty chargesheet has been issued to the personnel concerned. Disciplinary proceedings have been initiated as per departmental rules," the minister said.
"Additional inspections have been introduced to ensure defect-free production," he said.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)