MUMBAI -- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) spends ₹ 3.09 for each ₹ 500 note as cost towards paper, printing and other charges, an RTI query has revealed.
The information was given here on Friday to Mumbai Right To Information activist Anil Galgali on his query on the printing costs incurred by the government for printing ₹ 500 and ₹ 1,000 notes.
RBI Deputy General Manager P. Wilson said in a written submission that the 'selling price' is ₹ 3,090 per thousand pieces of ₹ 500 denomination new currency notes, or ₹ 3.09 per note for the current year, 2016-2017.
The RBI buys the currency notes from the Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Pvt Ltd, its official supplier and printer for currency notes, Galgali said.
The BRBNMPL said it did not have information pertaining to Galgali's RTI query on the ₹ 1,000 currency notes -- which may be printed in future.
However, the RBI declined to provide information on the orders placed for total quantity of (number of) notes of ₹ 500 and ₹ 1,000, its value, total contract amount, amount released and pending, as it fell under the ambit of RTI Section 8(1)(a).
Galgali said it was surprising why the government was not revealing the actual data on the number of the new ₹ 500 printed and proposed ₹ 1,000 currency notes even almost two-and-half months after demonetisation of the earlier ₹500 and ₹ 1,000 notes on 8 November.
The new ₹ 500 notes are clearly more expensive since according to a report in the Hindu, data from a Right to Information answer by the RBI in 2012 shows that it cost ₹ 2.50 to print each ₹ 500 denomination note. It might not seem like much but imagine the difference it would make to the exchequer when they are printed in bulk. For instance, and even this is on a mini scale, the cost of printing a thousand old ₹ 500 notes was ₹ 2,500 and now it is ₹ 3,090, a jump of ₹ 600.
(With inputs from agencies)
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