Cost of Rs 2000 note falls 65 paise per piece in 2018-19: Official data

The cost of a Rs 2000 currency note fell 65 paise or 18.4 per cent in 2018-19 compared to the year-ago period, according to official data.

Introduced after demonetisation in November 2016, Rs 2000 notes are printed only by the Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Pvt Ltd (BRBNMPL) -- a wholly-owned subsidiary of the RBI.

According to data provided by the government to the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, the selling price of Rs 2000 note from the BRBNMPL was Rs 3.53 apiece in 2018-19.

It declined 65 paise from Rs 4.18 apiece in 2017-18.

The data, provided by Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur in a written reply, showed that the selling price of a Rs 500 note was Rs 2.13 in 2018-19, lower than Rs 2.39 in the same period a year ago.

The selling price of Rs 200 note per piece declined to Rs 2.15 in 2018-19 compared to Rs 2.24 in 2017-18.

These figures pertain to the notes printed by the BRBNMPL.

The Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL) also prints currency notes.

The selling price of a Rs 500 note printed by SPMCIL was Rs 3.375 in 2018-19, unchanged from the year-ago period.

As per the data, the selling price of Rs 200 note remained the same at Rs 3.12 in 2018-19 and 2017-18.

The expenditure incurred on printing of currency notes rose to Rs 7,965 crore in 2017-18 (July-June) from Rs 4,912 crore in 2016-17.