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Re 1 and Rs 2 notes are no longer printed?

Currency notes in India are issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The Government and the RBI decide on the various denominations to be printed.

* The RBI decides upon the volume and value of bank notes to be printed. The quantum of bank notes that are needed broadly depends upon demand which is calculated on the basis of the growth rate of the economy, the replacement demand and reserve requirements.

* The printing of notes in the denominations of Re1 and Rs 2 have been discontinued as these denominations have been coinised. Coins in India are available in the denominations of 10 paise, 20 paise, 25 paise, 50 paise, one rupee, two rupees and five rupees.

* Notes of small denomination constituted 57 per cent of the total volume of the notes in circulation, but only 7 per cent of the value. The average life of these notes was around a year. The cost of printing and servicing these notes was, thus, not commensurate with their lifespan. Printing of these notes was, therefore, discontinued.

* Note of the denominations of Rs 10, 20, 50 and 100 which had been issued earlier but are still in circulation contain the Ashoka Pillar watermark and Ashoka Pillar effigy. The Rs 500 notes issued since 1987 bear the Ashoka Pillar watermark and the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. The RBI is now issuing bank notes in the Mahatma Gandhi series. This means that the notes contain the Mahatma Gandhi watermark as well as Mahatma Gandhi's portrait.

* The new Mahatma Gandhi series of notes contains several special features such as the security thread containing the word ‘Bharat' in the Devnagri script, a latent image of Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait, microlettering containing the word ‘RBI’, a special intaglio feature, intaglio printing, fluorescence number panels and also optical fibres.

— Compiled by Gaurav Sood