Plastic Currency: The RBI is set to conduct a trial for plastic notes in denominations of ₹10 and ₹20. What will happen to paper notes after this? The government itself has provided an answer to this question.

Plastic Currency in India: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is preparing to trial plastic currency in India. Notes of ₹10 and ₹20 denominations have been selected for this purpose. Initially, these notes will be produced using plastic—specifically polymer—for the trial. The government has already approved this trial. However, a major question has arisen: will paper notes be discontinued once these plastic notes are introduced?

Government's response

The government has recently addressed this public query. During the Monsoon Session of Parliament on Monday, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary provided full details. He stated that 100 crore polymer notes of ₹10 and 100 crore polymer notes of ₹20 would be issued during the trial—meaning a total of 200 crore polymer notes will be introduced into the market. The session also clarified the future of the existing paper notes.

Will paper notes be discontinued?

Answering this question, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary clarified that the introduction of polymer notes does not mean paper notes will be discontinued. According to the RBI, plastic notes will circulate alongside paper notes. This implies there is currently no plan to replace paper currency entirely with polymer notes; both types of notes will be available for use in the market.

More notes to be printed if the trial succeeds

Following a recommendation from its Central Board, the RBI had submitted a proposal to the central government to trial these notes. The proposal stated that if the trial proves successful, polymer notes of both denominations could be issued regularly in the future. If the trial of these plastic notes proves successful, the RBI will proceed to print them regularly, and a decision regarding their usage may be taken. Following the successful trial of the ₹10 and ₹20 denominations, notes in the ₹50, ₹100, ₹200, and ₹500 denominations will also be printed.