In the aftermath of the controversial demonetisation move and the Narendra Modi government’s subsequent speed-printing of two high-value currency notes, the Finance Ministry’s vigilance department has begun investigations into an alleged case of corruption in the procurement of a German currency paper manufacturing machine.

Official documents and complaints in possession of The Quint reveal that the Voith security paper manufacturing machine, running at the Security Paper Mill, Hoshangabad (Madhya Pradesh) since June 2015 has been producing barely 100 Metric Tonnes (MT) of currency paper in one month while the German company had promised that it would manufacture 500-600 MT. The machine was inaugurated by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

The machine, which was purchased for Rs 350 crore, was found to be faulty when earlier this year a glitch caused the production of several thousand Rs 1,000 currency notes at the Nashik Currency Note Press without the security thread. Shockingly, the defective notes without the security threads, one of the most sensitive and key features on any note, were allowed to be legal tender.

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