• The Rs 2,000 banknotes continue to be legal tender, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has clarified in a press release on June 2.

• On May 19, 2023, the RBI announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes from circulation.

• The high-value Rs 2000 notes worth Rs 6,181 crore are still in circulation after two years of the Reserve Bank withdrawing the currency.

• The total value of Rs 2,000 banknotes in circulation, which was Rs 3.56 lakh crore at the close of business on May 19, 2023, declined to Rs 6,181 crore at the close of business on May 31, 2025.

• Thus, 98.26 per cent of the Rs 2,000 banknotes in circulation as on May 19, 2023, has since been returned.

• The facility for deposit and/or exchange of such banknotes was available at all bank branches till October 7, 2023. However, this facility is still available at the 19 issue offices of the RBI.

• Since October 9, 2023, RBI issue offices are also accepting Rs 2,000 banknotes from individuals and entities for deposit into their bank accounts.

• Further, people can also send Rs 2,000 banknotes through India Post from any post office within the country to any of the RBI issue offices for credit to their bank accounts.

• The Rs 2,000 denomination banknote was introduced in November 2016 under Section 24(1) of RBI Act, 1934 primarily with the objective to meet the currency requirement of the economy in an expeditious manner after withdrawal of the legal tender status of all Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes in circulation at that time.

• In pursuance of the “Clean Note Policy” of the RBI, it was decided to withdraw the Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes from circulation. 

• Clean Note Policy is adopted by RBI to ensure availability of good quality banknotes to the members of public.

Issuer of currency

• RBI plays a unique role in the matter of monetary policy and issuance of currency.

• The RBI Act has been enacted to regulate the issue of bank notes and generally to operate the currency and credit system of the country.

• Section 3 of the RBI Act provides that the RBI has been constituted for the purposes of taking over the management of the currency from the central government and carrying on the business of banking in accordance with the provisions of the RBI Act.

• Section 22(1) of the RBI Act provides that the RBI shall have the sole right to issue bank notes in India.

• The Indian currency is called the Indian Rupee (INR). The symbol of the Indian Rupee is ₹. The design resembles both the Devanagari letter ‘₹’ (ra) and the Latin capital letter ‘R’, with a double horizontal line at the top.

Currency management

• The banknote printing started in India in 1928 with the establishment of India Security Press in Nashik. Until the commissioning of the Nashik press, the currency notes were printed from Thomas De La Rue Giori of the United Kingdom. 

• The second banknote printing press was established in Dewas (Madhya Pradesh) in 1975. 

• With the growth in population and economic activity, the demand for banknotes has been steadily increasing. To bridge the demand and supply gap, the government decided to establish two banknote printing presses, one at Mysuru and the other at Salboni (West Bengal).

• The Reserve Bank has the sole authority to issue banknotes in India. The Reserve Bank, like other central banks the world over, changes the design of banknotes from time to time.

• Currency in Circulation (CiC) includes banknotes and coins. 

• The Department of Currency Management has the responsibility of administering the functions of currency management, a core function of the Reserve Bank in terms of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. 

• Currency management essentially relates to issue of notes and coins and retrieval of unfit notes from circulation. 

• This work is performed through 18 issue offices of the Reserve Bank and a wide network of currency chests, repositories and small coin depots managed by banks and government treasuries.

• The Department receives notes from four currency note printing presses. 

The value and volume of banknotes in circulation increased by 6 per cent and 5.6 per cent, respectively, during 2024-25. 

• During 2024-25, the share of Rs 500 banknotes at 86 per cent, declined marginally in value terms. 

• In volume terms, Rs 500 denomination at 40.9 per cent, constituted the highest share of the total banknotes in circulation, followed by Rs 10 denomination banknotes at 16.4 per cent. 

• The lower denomination banknotes (Rs 10, Rs 20 and Rs 50) together constituted 31.7 per cent of total banknotes in circulation by volume.

• The value and volume of coins in circulation increased by 9.6 per cent and 3.6 per cent, respectively, during 2024-25.

• As on March 31, 2025, coins of Re 1, Rs 2, and Rs 5 together constituted 81.6 per cent of the total volume of coins in circulation, while in value terms, these denominations accounted for 64.2 per cent.

Printing of notes

• Banknotes are printed at four currency presses, two of which are owned by the government through Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd. (SPMCIL) and two are owned by the Reserve Bank, through its wholly owned subsidiary Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Ltd. (BRBNMPL). 

• The currency presses of SPMCIL are Bank Note Press (BNP) in Dewas and Currency Note Press (CNP) in Nashik. 

• The two presses of BRBNMPL are at Mysuru and Salboni.

• Coins are minted in four mints owned by the government. The mints are located at Mumbai, Hyderabad, Calcutta and Noida.

• The coins are issued for circulation only through the Reserve Bank in terms of Section 38 of the RBI Act.

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