The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday reported that 97.82% of the Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes in circulation have been returned.
This follows the RBI’s announcement, detailed in a Press Release from May 19, 2023, about the withdrawal of these high-value notes from circulation.
The total value of Rs 2,000 banknotes in circulation, which was Rs 3.56 lakh crore at the close of business on May 19, 2023, has declined to Rs 7,755 crore at the close of business on May 31, 2024.
Notably, the RBI initiated the withdrawal of Rs 2000 banknotes to streamline the currency system and manage liquidity more effectively. From May 19, 2023, the public was given the facility to deposit or exchange these notes at all bank branches across the country.
Post October 7, 2023, the exchange facility for Rs 2000 notes was centralized to the 19 RBI Issue Offices. Starting from October 09, 2023, these offices also began accepting the Rs 2000 banknotes for direct deposit into bank accounts.
Additionally, the RBI partnered with India Post, enabling citizens to send their Rs 2000 notes from any post office within the country to any RBI Issue Office for credit to their bank accounts.
The 19 RBI offices depositing/exchanging the banknotes are in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna and Thiruvananthapuram.