What does it cost to print the new Rs 500, Rs 2000 and other currency notes?

The Reserve Bank of India pays Rs 3.54 for each new Rs 2,000 banknote printed in its subsidary, a reply to an RTI query has revealed.

The Reserve Bank of India pays Rs 3.54 for each new Rs 2,000 banknote printed in its subsidiary, a reply to an RTI query has revealed.

Calculations reveal replacing all the notes will take several months and such an exercise will also be a costly affair.(PTI)

The RTI application was filed by Neemuch-based Chandrashekhar Gaud.

Bhartiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL), a subsidiary of RBI, said in its reply that it charges the central bank Rs 3,090 for printing thousand new Rs 500 banknotes.

For the Rs 2,000 denomination, RBI is shelling out Rs 3,540 for 1,000 pieces.

But this figure may vary for other mints across the country.

According to RBI data, the cost of printing banknotes is as follows

Rs 5 - Rs 0.48

Rs 10 - Rs 0.96

Rs 20 - Rs 1.5

Rs 50 - Rs 1.81

Rs 100 - Rs 1.79

Rs 500 (old) - Rs 2.5

Rs 1,000 (old) - Rs 3.17

The new rupee notes are being printed at four mints. Together, they can print about three billion notes per month. The mints have to replace about Rs 14 trillion taken out of circulation — roughly equal to the gross domestic product of Portugal. If half that value is printed in Rs 500 rupee notes and the other half is printed in Rs 2,000 rupee notes, the mints will have to print around 17.5 billion total notes to replace the value of the notes taken out of circulation.

“I have asked the country for just 50 days,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said during a speech in Goa. “Brothers and sisters, give me 50 days.”

But calculations reveal replacing all the notes will take several months and such an exercise will also be a costly affair.

Both the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes were demonetised by the government on November 8.

(with inputs from PTI)