Modi govt to offer tax benefit to promote cashless economy

India will offer tax incentives to small businesses engaged in cashless transactions, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters on Tuesday.

The move is part of the government's drive to promote a cashless economy, Jaitley said, after the government decided to scrap high-value banknotes last month in a bid to make them worthless for holders of unaccounted wealth.

Jaitley also said the Reserve Bank of India has sufficient stock of cash, which would last way beyond December 30.

"RBI has adequate cash, not only to last till December 30, but well beyond that," said Jaitley while briefing the media.

On the question of being less prepared, Jaitley said: "There was complete preparation. Not even for a single day did the RBI not release adequate currency stock through the banking system."

"A certain amount of currencies are to be released each day. There was already preparation for that. Therefore, stock has been maintained, adding both advance printing and current printing," he added.