Take note, Mysuru press did it
New unit to reduce dependency on western countries.
Bengaluru: To reduce dependence on Western countries, the Union government is setting up a unit in Mysuru to supply ink to the Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Ltd (BRBNMPL), a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India that prints currency notes of various denominations.
The unit is coming up on 300 acres at Belavatta village near the present RBI currency printing press at an estimated Rs 1,250 crore as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 'Make in India' campaign, sources said.
Now, the ink is supplied by Germany and other countries. The unit will be state-of-the-art and will provide employment opportunities to 250 people. In fact, a small unit to manufacture ink for printing currency notes was set up in West Bengal a few years ago, but was shut down.
The new Mysuru unit will help maintain utmost secrecy on the kind of inks used and mixed to print the currency notes. The ink will be used exclusively to print the currency notes at four presses, including in Mysuru. With the Western countries supplying ink, there are possibilities of the secret concoction falling into wrong hands, sources said.
Desi paper
The printing press used specialised paper to print the new notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 denominations that are in circulation now. Seventy percent of this paper was from desi sources, while the rest came from Germany, France and other countries.
Of the 2,000 million pieces of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 currency notes printed at different centres, 500 million were sent from the Mysuru press.
The new designs for the Rs 500 and Rs 2000 notes were created by personnel at the printing press and were approved by the union finance ministry and RBI around six months ago. The printing of new notes began four months ago and was kept a closely guarded secret. Around 650 employees skipped holidays and worked overtime to keep the money ready for dispatch.
Details of those who designed the new notes have been kept a secret. The new currency notes that have 16 distinct security features are almost impossible to be counterfeited. The new Rs 1,000 currency, as announced by the RBI governor, is also likely to be printed at the Mysuru press.