How powerful is RBI and who decides when to print currencies?
Posted on: 17/Nov/2016 4:33:25 PM
All the currency management in our country is handled by the Reserve Bank of India. The other responsibilities it handles include regulation of credit system in the country, use of monetary policy for ensuring financial stability, and so on.
It was on 1st April 1935 that the RBI was founded, abiding by the Reserve Bank of India act. The RBI has got printing facilities all over the country at Dewas, Mysore and Salboni.
In spite of having enough power for printing the Indian currency, the government gives its final say for most of the actions pursued by the RBI. For instance, the denominations of notes printed are decided by the government including that of security features.
As of the year 2015, notes including Rs 10, Rs 100, Rs 500 and Rs 1000 were getting printed by the RBI. If notes of higher denominations are to be printed, the RBI act need to be amended. At the same time, it is the RBI that estimates demand for bank notes year on year. And before printing the notes, the RBI sends request to the government officials for their signature.
Who is behind it?
The government owned corporation called the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited is completely into the production of bank notes, coins, non-judicial stamps, all government related documents and postage stamps.
This company was formed in 2006 following the corporatization of security presses and mints that fall under the India Ministry of Finances. This comprises of all the presses, four mints and paper mills.There are four presses functioning under SPMCIL.
- Currency Note Press called CNP
- Bank Note Press called BNP
- India Security Press
- Security Printing Press
CNP has its location at various parts of the country including Maharashtra and Mysore. To note, there is also an ink factory functional under the BNP.
There are four mints functional under SPMCIL. They are: India Government Mint at Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Noida.
