India has abolished its big currency notes to make way for new and visually more appealing currency notes. This is what they look like now.
In a surprise address to the nation last evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that starting Wednesday, current Rs 500 (S$10.40) and Rs 1,000 notes won’t be legal tenders after midnight.
This is government’s attempt to tackle corruption, black money flow, counterfeit as well as terrorism activities that often involve unreported stash of cash.
Modi also said that the government will shortly issue new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes. In a press conference last evening, the Reserve Bank of India unveiled the design of the new notes.
The Rs 500 note now comes in stone grey colour, whereas the Rs 2,000 note carries a magneta-coloured design.
In addition to the colors, the government has also made some changes in the text and images on the note.
The RBI said the new notes will carry the signature of recently appointed governor Urjit R Patel, and also have a Swachh Bharat logo (Modi’s campaign that translates into Clean India).
The new Rs 500 note will have an image of the Red Fort with Indian Flag on the back side.
There’s also an intaglio printing of Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait, as well as the Ashoka Pillar emblem.
The government said that the new note also carries improved identification mark so that visually impaired people are able to identify the denomination. The Rs 2,000 denomination has a motif of Mangalayan (India’s Mars mission) on the back side.
The RBI also issued notifications about the identification features in the new currency bills.
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