New Delhi: Prime minister Narendra Modi’s self-imposed deadline for setting right the currency circulation crisis seems unrealistic, given the capacity and conditions at the four government presses printing notes. Pulling out Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8, Modi had said everything will be back to normal in 50 days but the presses are yet to procure the paper and ink to print new notes.

Thursday’s newspapers have carried advertisements inviting tenders for distributing the paper and ink to print currency notes. The four presses where the currency notes are printed have no stock of paper and ink to print notes worth about Rs 20 lakh crore.

As many as 1,600 crore Rs 500 notes worth about Rs 8.3 lakh crore and 684 crore Rs 1,000 notes worth Rs 6.84 lakh crore were in circulation when Modi demonetized them. The government has no plans to print new Rs 1,000 notes. Printing of the new Rs 2,000 notes has been started two months before the demonetization.

Even if the four printing presses work full time in four shifts, they will need at least six months to print the equivalent of Rs 500 notes withdrawn by the government last month. Faced with a severe shortage of paper and ink, the presses may take up to a year to finish the orders. The presses are also burdened with the printing of Rs 100 and Rs 50 notes.

Rs 2,000 notes are available across the country but there are not many takers for the high-denomination notes because it is virtually impossible to exchange them for day to day activities. Work on the new Rs 500 notes was started only on November 10.

Notes are printed in presses in Nashik in Maharashtra, Devas in Madhya Pradesh, Salboni in Bengal and Mysuru in Karnataka. The Nashik and Dewas presses are run by the Security Printing and Minting Corporation Limited (SPMCL) while the Salboni and Musuru presses are owned by the Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Limited.

The SPMCL has been rudderless since the government shifted out Chairman and Managing Director M S Rana in July. Union Finance Joint Secretary Praveen Garg has been given additional charge as the CMD of the corporation.