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How sudden spike in cash demand led to a major cash crunch in many states

These currency stocks should have been adequate for India's average requirements-if Indians had adopted digital transactions

ATMs, Banks, demonetisation, cash-crunch, cash-deprived ATMs, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, RBI, reserve Bank of India, high denomination, low denomination, Corporation bank,Confederation of ATM Industry, Telangana, Public sector banks, PSBs
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A security guard sleeps near an 'out of service' ATM machine in Ahmedabad . (Photo: PTI)

IndiaSpend

India’s currency stocks have not kept pace with the Indian need for cash, and there are no reserves that allow the country to cope with sudden spikes in demands, such as those that led to recent shortages in many states, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of Reserve Bank of India data.

These currency stocks should have been adequate for India’s average requirements–if Indians had adopted digital transactions at the scale Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government envisaged after demonetisation, the controversial withdrawal of 86% of the