Very soon you will be able to flaunt plastic currency notes in your wallet. The Narendra Modi government is planning to print plastic currency notes and has initiated the procedure for procuring the material for this purpose. In a reply to a query in the Lok Sabha regarding such notes, MoS Finance Arjun Meghwal said the government had decided to print banknotes on plastic or polymer substrate.
“It is easier to track counterfeit currency in plastic money than paper,” Meghwal told reporters outside Parliament. It should be mentioned that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had been thinking about introducing the plastic notes instead of the old paper ones. The plastic notes are said to have a lifespan of five years and are very difficult to imitate. Plus, they are much cleaner than the paper notes.
Polymer banknotes are basically made of a polymer named Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP). They boast of several security features and are more durable than paper notes. At present, countries like United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, Kuwait, Vietnam and others use polymer notes.
In 2014, the Manmohan Singh government had informed Parliament that it was planning to introduce plastic notes of Rs 10 denomination in five cities of Kochi, Mysore, Jaipur, Simla and Bhubaneswar.
The demand for currency notes has risen after the Modi government announced demonetisation move, scrapping the old Rs 1,000 and 500 notes and introducing the Rs 2,000 and 500 denominations. It should be mentioned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly promoted a cashless economy and asked the people to use plastic money, i.e debit and credit cards.
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