The Reserve Bank of India will introduce new Rs. 500 currency notes, according to India Today report. The new set of notes will have inset letter A, the report says.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will introduce new Rs. 500 currency notes, according to India Today report. The new set of notes will have inset letter A, the report says. However, old notes, which were introduced following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s much discussed demonetisation move in November last, will remain legal tender, the report says. It has been learned that design of these notes is similar in all respects to the present Rs 500 banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series, according to ANI report. An official statement stated that in continuation of issuing of Rs 500 denomination banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi (new) series from time to time which are currently legal tender, a new batch of banknotes with inset letter A in both the number panels, bearing the signature of Urjit R Patel, Governor, Reserve Bank of India; with the year of printing 2017 on the reverse, are being issued.

This comes after RBI Deputy Governor N S Vishwanathan in March had said that the central bank did not have any plan to introduce new denomination currencies, according to IANS report.Vishwanathan had said that the central banking institution wanted to encourage people to opt for cashless transactions.

Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal had also informed Parliament that the Narendra Modi government was not planning to print Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 currency notes.

On December 16 last, RBI had announced that it would issue Rs 500 notes in Mahatma Gandhi (New) series with the inset letter E in both the number panels. The notes will also bear Swachh Bharat logo printed on the reverse of the banknote, it had said.RBI had also noted that some of the captioned banknotes would have an additional character * (star) in the number panel in the space between the prefix and the number.

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RBI had said that packets containing these notes would have 100 pieces as usual but not in serial order, as per PTI report.