Rs 2000 note news: Rs 2000 note ban fake news alert! Modi government clears the air - No confusion!

Amid several messages related to Rs 2000 notes going viral on WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms, Modi government has cleared the air on the rumours and unconfirmed reports so as to remove all the confusion over the messages.

Modi government has confirmed that no decision has been taken to discontinue printing of Rs 2,000 banknotes so far. Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur said in a written reply in Lok Sabha, "No indent was placed with the presses for printing of Rs 2,000 denomination notes for 2019-20. However, there is no decision to discontinue the printing of Rs 2,000 banknotes."

The minister was replying to a question on whether the government has stopped printing new Rs 2,000 currency notes and if the public sector banks have issued any circular to stop circulation of Rs 2,000 notes through ATMs.

"In view of the higher circulation of currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 200 denominations and inconvenience faced by the customers in exchanging Rs 2,000 currency notes, two of the public sector banks namely State Bank of India and Indian Bank have been issued instructions to the field functionaries to reconfigure the ATMs for currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 200 denominations," Thakur said.

He said printing of banknotes of particular denomination is decided by the government in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to maintain desired denomination mix for facilitating demand of public.

Rs 2000 notes

Banknotes of Rs 2,000 denomination worth Rs 7.40 lakh crore have been printed and supplied so far, he said. The total face value of banknotes of Rs 2,000 denomination in circulation and in currency chests was Rs 5.49 lakh crore and Rs 0.93 lakh crore, respectively.

"The quantum of banknotes that needs to be printed broadly depends on the requirement for meeting the demand for banknotes due to inflation, GDP (gross domestic product) growth, replacement of soiled banknotes and reserve stock requirement," Thakur said.