The Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena on Friday said that the government is going to introduce polymer bank notes on a trial basis. Introducing polymer bank notes, or in simple words, plastic bank notes had been on the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) agenda since 2009.
The government has decided that Rs. 100 crore worth of plastic bank notes will be introduced across 5 select locations of the country. All the plastic bank notes in India will be in the denomination of Rs. 10.
What are plastic / polymer bank notes?
Plastic bank notes or polymer bank notes are made from a plastic polymer. They aim to incorporate a lot more convenience, durability and enhanced security features as compared to paper bank notes. If these polymer bank notes are implemented in the Indian system, India will be following the footsteps of Australia, New Zealand and a few other countries on the world in terms of currency notes. At the moment, a total of 7 countries have polymer bank notes in circulation.
How will plastic bank notes in India affect the average person?
If the plastic bank notes in India are made in line and standards of the other polymer bank notes in circulation around the world, they will have the following advantages.
- Plastic bank notes are much harder to tear than their paper counterparts. You cannot simply tear away a plastic bank note, it would require considerable effort. So, obviously they will last much longer than normal paper notes.
- Plastic bank notes are water proof. So you no longer have to worry about letting your money get wet in the rain or even forgetting money in the pocket of your pants.
- Plastic notes are more durable than paper bank notes. This would be a top advantage especially for a country like India where dust and other wear and tear is quite rampant. No longer will you have to argue with a shop keeper to tell him to give you a ‘better note’.
- Plastic bank notes are extremely hard, if not impossible to counterfeit. It cannot merely be scanned, copied or reprinted. This is great news for India because no longer will business owners have to worry about counterfeit notes. Plastic bank notes are also power packed with other security features which may not benefit the average Joe, but will benefit government agencies in terms of security and traceability.
- The polymer that is generally used in plastic bank notes is a biaxially-oriented polypropylene. This polymer is recyclable. For all you environmentalists out there who are shivering at the thought of plastic deteriorating the environment, calm down because these plastic bank notes will be recyclable.
As you can see, the introduction of plastic bank notes in India seems to be the right thing to do. Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said that "A final decision will be taken depending on the results of the field trial". Let’s wait and watch!
What’s your take on these Plastic Bank Notes?
how it look likes.
waiting for it to come soon, it will be more easily to be handled, hope it has a good success :)
It could be more convent and durable.
thats the real current awareness should be there of M.Com Student.. Keep it up Bro………… :-)
To, Kunal Nanda.
1.Nepal does not print bank notes, no note production facility in Nepal exists.
2. Bank notes folded several times tied on edge of Saree/ Dhoti gives non correctable wrinkles.
3. The discoloration of Bank Notes cannot be justified!
The polymer note has already been tried and tested in Nepal.Made in Australia, the durability of note in Nepal had been more pathetic than the regular paper notes. The discoloration and wrinkling of notes were the main issues. Soon after initial years of introduction, because of increasing problems in its management, the polymers were rolled back from the market. Hope the Indian government would learn lesson from Nepal and stresses on the quality and proper use of the polymers.
That would be more to do with the production facilities in Nepal. Made in Australia does not mean that the actual not is produced in Australia. Have personally seen the quality of these notes and can vouch for it.
it will curb the fake currency by nearing countries like pakistan and balgladesh and also with in india, it s great idea to implement the plastic currency, and definitely it will the help government. hope implement will take to soon.
Wonderful way to promote renewable energy i believe ……….. it is a plastic plastic world
Only seven nations using plastic money? I am confused.
In 2007, 2008 I worked in Vietnam. We used to have plastic money there. (I still have them as a soveniers) One more point every one is missing is the thickness of the note! It is considerably thin compared to paper money. It may not be noticable when dealing in individual notes but when you handle bundles, the difference in thickness can easily be spotted.
Overall its a good idea.
Yes this is really great Idea to implement Plastic polymer based currency as the chance for fake currency is minimal. Also the life of the note is much more longer then normal paper note.
I remember using Australian Dollar when i was travelling to sydney and it was such a good feeling handling the currency. In my entire stay i never came across any currency note which was tore or which had even a fold on it.
Yeah… Australians were pioneers in using polymer notes. I am surprised that it took so long for Indian Govt. to come up with this…
Wow! Rs. 10 plastic bank notes to be a reality soon!
This is a fabulous idea and will definitely help the economy.If this becomes a reality, problems faced at multiple levels will get resolved like counterfeit notes, torn/ soiled paper notes (which is a HUGE problem in small businesses where cash transactions are regular)
I just wish that the plan is executed on a fast track and that the entire paper based currency gets converted to new, improved, recyclable polymer based currency.
Any idea why countries like US/ Europe haven’t implemented this in their economy?
Manish :)
This is a fabulous idea and will definitely help the economy.If this becomes a reality, problems faced at multiple levels will get resolved like counterfeit notes, torn/ soiled paper notes (which is a HUGE problem in small businesses where cash transactions are regular)
I just wish that the plan is executed on a fast track and that the entire paper based currency gets converted to new, improved, recyclable polymer based currency.
Any idea why countries like US/ Europe haven’t implemented this in their economy?