New Rs 100 note coming in April, old notes to be withdrawn gradually

This is the fourth denomination that has been revamped since the government's demonetisation on November 8

Last Updated : Oct 04 2017 | 11:25 AM IST

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will soon release Rs 100 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series, having the signature of Governor Urjit R Patel. However, the Rs 100 banknotes in the earlier series will continue to be a legal tender.

According to Mint, RBI will start printing new Rs 100 notes in April (once Rs 200 notes have been printed), while the existing notes will be withdrawn from the market gradually without causing any disruption.

This is the fourth denomination that has been revamped since the government's demonetisation on November 8 last year. Earlier, new notes of Rs 2,000, Rs 500 and Rs 200 notes were introduced.

The dimensions of new Rs 100 notes will not change. Previously, the new Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 notes caused a lot of trouble to the RBI and other stakeholders as ATM machines had to be recalibrated to accommodate the new dimension of the currency notes.

Fake currency: The redesigning of the notes is being done to curb circulation of fake currency, two officials of RBI said.

Rs 200 note

In August, the RBI launched Rs 200 note. In a statement released on its website then, the RBI said, "To achieve the optimal system of currency that would minimise the number of denominations while increasing the probability of proffering exact change, especially at the lower end of denominations, there is a logical need to introduce the missing denomination of Rs 200, which will make the present currency system more efficient".

Provision of the new denomination, therefore, would facilitate exchange, particularly for the common man who deals with denominations at the lower end", it further added.

In November 2016, India had banned the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination currency notes in an attempt to flush out undeclared wealth. The two denominations together accounted for 86 percent of the currency in circulation at that time and their overnight demonetisation created chaos across the country especially because the supply of new notes took time.