Mysuru: The Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL) Unit printing new currency notes of Rs 2000 and Rs 500 denominations has been provided with 24×7 paramilitary security to prevent any untoward incident and security lapse.
After the old currency notes were spiked, the unit in Mysuru has gained worldwide attention as new currency notes are being printed in the new unit. Recently an IAF aircraft airlifted the new currency notes to meet the ever increasing demand. With people experiencing change problem with Rs 2000 denomination new notes, BRBNMPL has suddenly shifted to printing 500 notes. It is gathered that the paper required for printing the new currency notes is manufactured in-house. Three shifts are in progress after demonetisation came into force and the staff members are deprived of holidays to meet the demand.
The prime minister’s office suddenly deputed a 120-member-strong paramilitary force to oversee the security arrangements at the unit without the knowledge of RBI staff working there.
(BRBNMPL) was established by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as its wholly owned subsidiary with a view to augment the production of bank notes in India and to enable itself to bridge the gap between the supply and demand for bank notes in the country. The company manages two presses-one at Mysore in Karnataka and the other at Salboni in West Bengal. The present capacity of both the presses is 16 billion note pieces per year on a 2-shift basis.
But none knows Indian finance ministry’s problems better than the one who headed it. In a recent interview, former finance minister P Chidambaram had said that in the present printing capacity of 300 crore notes per month, it would take more than 6 months to print 2300 crore notes to replace 86 percent of spiked currency.
Present efforts by the union government may be to prove him wrong or an effort to salvage some pride after it faced several hiccups following note ban.
