Government to import 20,000 tonnes of currency paper to fight cash crunch

According to Finance Ministry and Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL) officials an order to import 20,000 tonnes of currency paper might be shared with about nine foreign firms. 

After demonetisation of ₹500 and ₹1000 currency notes, 86% of the money in circulation has been banned leading to serious cash crunch situation across the nation. Now, the government is planning to issue a high volume of limited tender by early next week to ease the cashless situation. 

The Finance Ministry officials confirmed to The Indian Express that the order to import will be as much as 20,000 tonnes, which is way more than the about 8,000 tonnes already imported in this year. 

The senior official confirmed that this import order will be taking care of the projection of printing for a year and more. The consumption of currency notes in the past couple of years have been around 25,000 tonnes annually of which almost 18,000 tonnes is manufactured in India. 

As per the report, the nine foreign firms who will be receiving the order for import have already obtained Home Ministry's security clearance. The firms that have been roped into the import are Komsco of South Korea, Arjowiggins of France, Landquart of Switzerland, PWPW of Poland, Crane of Sweden, PT Pura of Indonesia, Gozank of Russia, Fabriano of Italy, and Louisenthal of Germany, reported The Indian Express.

Out of these nine, three have been included for the first time whereas six of them are current suppliers. 

• Demonetisation
• Demonetization
• Currency ban
• 500 rupee ban
• 1000 rupee ban
• Currency paper