The very slow printing of the new Rs 500 note at the Bank Note Press (BNP) in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, could be attributed to an old, but expensive machine supplied by a Swiss-British joint venture company that was allowed to violate significant tender norms, according to confidential documents in possession of The Quint.

The documents, which reveal in great detail the improprieties involved in selecting the company, the Lausanne-based KBA-Giori, which collaborated with the UK-based Thomas De La Rue to form De La Rue Giori, show that a four-set “finishing machine” procured for Rs 400 crore “did not meet tender specifications” and yet was purchased after suspected kickbacks were paid to top Indian government functionaries in 2009.

The machine, which was installed in 2010-11, continues to be operated at the Dewas BNP and is said to have slowed the printing/production of the new Rs 500 notes which are in extreme short supply.

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