RBI's new Rs 20 banknote to be released soon, check the features here

All banknotes in the denomination of Rs 20 issued by the RBI in earlier series will continue to be legal tender

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced on Saturday that it will shortly issue Rs 20 denomination banknotes, in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) series, bearing the signature of the central bank's governor Shaktikanta Das. These are different in size and design compared to the notes issued earlier.

The central bank has already issued new look currency notes in the denominations of Rs 10, Rs 50, Rs 100, and Rs 500, besides introducing Rs 200 and Rs 2,000 bank notes.

"The Rs 20 note will be greenish-yellow in colour. The new banknote has a motif of Ellora Caves on the reverse, depicting the country's cultural heritage," a statement by the RBI said. According to the RBI data bank, there were 4.92 billion pieces of Rs 20 note in circulation as on March 31, 2016. The number more than doubled to about 10 billion pieces by March 2018.

All the banknotes in the denomination of Rs 20 issued by the RBI in the earlier series will continue to be legal tender, it clarified.

The note has other designs, geometric patterns aligning with the overall colour scheme, both at the obverse and reverse. The dimension of the new Rs 20 note will be 63 mm x 129 mm, the statement said.

Screenshot of the new Rs 20 banknote | Photo: RBI's official website

Here are a few features of the new Rs 20 banknote: 

Obverse (Front)

• See through register with denominational numeral 20
• Denominational numeral 20 in Devnagari
• Portrait of Mahatma Gandhi at the centre
• Micro letters 'RBI', 'Bharat'(In Devnagari script) , ‘INDIA' and '20'
• Windowed demetalised security thread with inscriptions 'Bharat'(In Devnagari script) and RBI
• Guarantee Clause, Governor's signature with Promise Clause and RBI emblem towards right of Mahatma Gandhi portrait
• Ashoka Pillar emblem on the right
• Mahatma Gandhi portrait and electrotype (20) watermarks
• Number panel with numerals growing from small to big on the top left side and bottom right side.

Reverse (Back)

• Year of printing of the note on the left
• Swachh Bharat logo with slogan
• Language panel
• Motif of Ellora Caves
• Denominational numeral 20 in Devnagari.
• Dimension of the banknote will be 63 mm x 129 mm