Rs 500 notes worth Rs 88,000 crore missing from Indian economy?; RBI says report 'not correct'

A right to information request made by an activist has reportedly revealed that 500 rupee notes worth Rs 88,000 crore are missing from the Indian economy.

Media reports citing activist Manoranjan Roy's RTI request say the three mints had issued 8,810.65 million pieces of the newly designed Rs 500 notes but RBI only received 7,260 million.

However, in a statement on June 17, the RBI refuted claims saying all banknotes supplied from the printing presses to RBI are duly accounted for and reports of missing banknotes are 'not correct'

India has three units where currency notes are printed- Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (P) Limited in Bengaluru, Currency Note Press in Nashik, and Bank Note Press, Dewas in Madhya Pradesh.

The Nasik mint in the RTI mentioned that it had supplied 1,662.000 million pieces to the RBI in 2016-2017, while the Bengaluru mint supplied 5,195.65 million pieces and the Dewas mint supplied 1,953.000 million pieces to the RBI during this time. The total of the supplied notes from the three mints comes to 8,810.65 million pieces, however, the RBI has received only 7260 million pieces of the ₹500 notes.