Indian Currency- What?, Where?, When?, and Why?
A human without a “need” is still a non-existing miracle. Money is the basic fuel that runs the human needs which in turn runs human life. The common question that Why can’t our Indian currency printed in sufficient amount arises among all of us. And we are curious to know who is behind this valuable process and how it is done. We will explore the answers relating to the printing of our Indian currency in this article.
Indian currency – History
The word “rupee” has been evolved from the Sanskrit word “Rupyam”. The Indian currency was given birth by Sher Shah Suri in 1540-45 in which the currency was initially called ‘Rupiya”. The silver coin was the only currency during the Mughal period, Maratha era, and British India which was first introduced by Sher Shah Suri. However the paper money in India was first issued by the Bank of Hindustan General Bank in Bengal and the Bengal Bank. In 1935 the well known Reserve Bank of India was set up and was given the charge to issue Indian rupee notes. The rupee notes with Mahatma Gandhi’s picture printed on it was first issued in 1996 by RBI.
Who prints Indian currency?
The Reserve Bank of India is responsible for printing and managing the currency in India. But the denomination of the currency to be circulated is managed by the Indian government. The Reserve Bank of India has the authority to print currency up to Rs 10,000 notes except 1 rupee note. Since the 1 rupee note is issued by the Ministry of Finance. If it wants to print the currency notes of higher value, it can be done through the amendment of the Reserve Bank of India Act executed by the government. The RBI has the power to print only the currency notes. However the government of India holds the full power to mint coins but it is circulated by RBI.
Criteria for printing currency
The RBI cannot print money when and wherever needed. There is a system based on which the RBI prints the cash called the “Minimum Reserve System”. Let us see a brief description of the Minimum Reserve System.
Minimum Reserve System
This system is practiced in India since 1956. According to this system the RBI has to maintain a minimum asset value of Rs 200 crores. The composition of this 200 crores consists of Rs 115 crores in the form of gold and Rs 85 crores in the form of foreign currencies. If the RBI maintains this ratio then it is free to print money depending on the economic needs of the country. It has to get prior permission from the Indian government to print the Indian currency.
What makes RBI to print money?
The RBI prints money mainly based on the Indian economy and its growth. If the income of the people increases then the spending capacity of the people will automatically increase. In other words the transactions increases and people need more currency to afford goods and services. The increase in transactions leads to an increase in economic growth. These factors probably drive the RBI to print money.
Where is Indian Currency printed?
The firm called Security Printing & Minting Corporation of India Ltd. (SPMCIL ) is a government-owned company responsible for manufacturing currency, certificates, checks, bonds, etc., in India and has printing presses in various places of the country.
Indian Currency – Valuable journey of money
The Indian currency is printed only in specific places.
Notes
The Indian paper currency is printed in the following four places.
Currency Note Press, Nasik(Maharastra)
Bank Note Press, Dewas(Madhya Pradesh)
Bhartiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Pvt. Ltd.
Massour (Karnataka)
Salboni (West Bengal)
Coins
The Indian rupee coins are minted in the following four places.
India Government Mint, Mumbai
India Government Mint, Kolkata
India Government Mint, Hyderabad
India Government Mint, Noida.
Design of the Currency
The paper on which the Indian currency is printed is manufactured and supplied by two mills which is situated in Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh and Mysuru, Karnataka. The currency notes are designed in such a way that it is embedded with high-security features like dimensional watermark, micro-lettering and security threads.
The printing spot
Once the Indian currency notes are designed and supplied to the authorized printing presses, an additional security feature of optically variable ink is added to it. Big sheets are usually used to print currency notes. The sheets are big enough such that 40 pieces of Rs2000 notes can be printed out of it. Once the currency notes are manufactured it is circulated to the public through ATMs under the RBI regulations.
The currency notes are one such paper like many varieties of papers in the world. Yet it is the most powerful than all others because of its value. The same applies to us also. Our value triggers our power.
Be valuable to become more powerful
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