Army pitches in to help at Dewas currency printing press

The Army has pitched in to help out the Bank Note Press here, which is working round the clock to deal with the cash crunch across the country following demonetisation, officials said on Monday.

The Army's help will also be taken for distribution of the notes around the country, said Bank Note Press (BNP) sources.

According to the sources, 200 men of the Grenadier Regiment arrived here from Gwalior on Sunday to help out at the press.

The press, which has a daily capacity of two crore notes, is at this time solely engaged in printing the new Rs 500 notes, with all other denominations stopped.

According to the sources, even retired personnel have been asked to help out at the press which is working around the clock, and the Army's help was sought due to shortage of personnel to man the press round the clock.

The press at Dewas is among the four in the country where bank notes and currency notes are printed. The others are at Nashik (Maharashtra), Salboni (West Bengal) and Mysuru (Karnataka).

The presses at Dewas and at Nashik are owned by the central government through the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd, and their yearly currency printing capacity is around 40 per cent of the total in the country.

--IANS

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