Govt to test Rs 10 plastic note, won't discontinue Rs 2,000 note

The government on Friday categorically said there was no proposal to discontinue Rs 2,000 currency note, which was introduced post demonetisation in November 2016.

The government also informed the Lok Sabha that it had decided to conduct field trials of plastic currency notes of Rs 10 in five cities.

"There is no proposal under consideration of the government to stop Rs 2,000 note," Minister of State for Finance P Radhakrishnan said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha to a question whether the finance ministry has any plan to stop the note in near future.

The sizes of new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 denomination in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) series is 66mm X 150 mm and 66 mm and 166 mm, respectively.

The difference between the two currency notes is 10 mm for easy identification, he said in reply to another question.

The government had scrapped old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 9 with an aim to check black money and push digital economy.

As regards plastic notes, the minister said: "It has been decided to conduct field trial of plastic banknotes in denominations of Rs 10 at five locations".

The trial would be conducted in Kochi, Mysore, Jaipur, Shimla and Bhubaneshwar, he said, adding that the note will be printed in Indian presses on imported substrate.

He, however, did not specified any timeline.