New Rs 100 Note Unveiled: Here’s What the Lavender Note Looks Like

Older Rs 100 banknotes issued by the Reserve Bank in the earlier series will continue to be legal tender.

The Reserve Bank of India is all set to launch a new Rs 100 note. The new lavender notes, in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) series, will bear the signature of RBI Governor Urjit R Patel, and will come with a motif of Gujarat’s Rani Ki Vav, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, on the reverse.

“The note has other designs, geometric patterns aligning with the overall colour scheme, both at the obverse and reverse,” the RBI said in a press release, adding that the dimension of the banknote will be 66 mm × 142 mm.

All the banknotes in the denomination of Rs 100 issued by the Reserve Bank in the earlier series will continue to be legal tender.

The Dewas-based Bank Note Press has already started printing the new note, according to a Dainik Bhaskar report.

Features of the New Rs 100 Note

Here are the salient features of the new notes, as listed in a press release from the RBI:

Obverse (Front):

1. See through register with denominational numeral 100.
2. Latent image with denominational numeral 100.
3. Denominational numeral १०० in Devnagari.
4. Portrait of Mahatma Gandhi at the centre.
5. Micro letters ‘RBI’, ‘भारत’, ‘India’ and ‘100’.
6. Windowed security thread with inscriptions ‘भारत’ and RBI with colour shift; Colour of the thread changes from green to blue when the note is tilted.
7. Guarantee Clause, Governor’s signature with Promise Clause and RBI emblem towards right of Mahatma Gandhi portrait.
8. Ashoka Pillar emblem on the right.
9. Mahatma Gandhi portrait and electrotype (100) watermarks.
10. Number panel with numerals in ascending font on the top left side and bottom right side.
11. For visually impaired intaglio or raised printing of Mahatma Gandhi portrait, Ashoka Pillar emblem, raised triangular identification mark with micro-text 100, four angular bleed lines both on the right and left sides.

Reverse (Back)

12. Year of printing of the note on the left.
13. Swachh Bharat logo with slogan.
14. Language panel.
15. Motif of RANI KI VAV.
16. Denominational numeral १०० in Devnagari.

On 8 November 2016, the Narendra Modi government discontinued Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, in an attempt to check the flow of black money in the Indian economy.

According to RBI and government data accessed by The Indian Tribune, as of 8 November, 2016, about 86 percent of the total currency in circulation comprised of previously prevalent Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.