look news india
New Delhi/Lucknow. A huge and historic change may soon be seen in the Indian banking and currency system. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has intensified preparations to introduce new plastic (polymer) notes of Rs 10 and Rs 20 in the country. For this, work on a pilot project has already started and RBI’s currency printing subsidiary Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL) has also issued a global tender for the purchase of its special material (substrate). As soon as this big news comes out, many questions are arising in the minds of the general public whether the old paper notes will be discontinued? How much money will the country save from these plastic notes? Let us understand the answers to all these important and important questions in a sequential manner.
Why was there a need for plastic notes? Printing expenses and increasing pile of dirty notes
Despite the record expansion of digital payments and UPI, the demand for cash in the country is continuously increasing. According to the data of May 2026, the total cash in circulation in India has crossed the record Rs 42.86 lakh crore. Due to this heavy use of cash, the cost of printing notes is also continuously increasing. In the year 2024-25, RBI had spent about ₹ 6,373 crore on note printing, which however came down to ₹ 4,875 crore in the financial year 2025-26.
Apart from printing expenses, the second biggest problem is the destruction of dirty and torn notes. About 2,380 crore soiled and torn notes were destroyed in the financial year 2025. To deal with these huge expenses and the problem of short life of notes, RBI has now turned to polymer i.e. plastic notes, which prove to be very cheap and durable in the long run.
5 biggest features of plastic notes: Why are they better than paper notes?
-
High Durability: Polymer notes are made from a special type of plastic sheet, due to which they remain safe and working for two and a half to four times longer than normal paper notes.
-
Waterproof and Tearproof: These notes do not get lost when they get wet in water and they cannot be torn easily. Dust, soil and dirt also stick to them very little.
-
Bacteria Free: It has been proven in many international studies that infectious bacteria and viruses survive for much less time on the surface of plastic notes as compared to paper notes.
-
High Security Features: A transparent window and state-of-the-art security threads are provided in these notes, which makes it next to impossible to copy them exactly or make fake currency notes.
-
ATM Friendly: In future, all ATM machines in the country will be technologically upgraded to dispense these new plastic notes easily.
The model is successful in more than 60 countries of the world, Oman is also included in the list
India is not the first country to adopt plastic currency, but more than 60 countries of the world are using it successfully:
-
Countries with full adoption: In 1988, Australia became the first country in the world to issue a plastic note of $10. After this, countries like Canada, New Zealand, Vietnam, United Kingdom (UK), Maldives and Barbados completely changed their currency to polymer. Recently, in the year 2026, Oman has also made its place in this list by releasing its 1-riyal note in polymer.
-
Partially adopting countries: Countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Sri Lanka, Nepal, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Israel are using plastic for notes of select denominations.
Big question: Will old paper notes be discontinued? Governor’s statement
Putting an end to the rumors spreading among the general public, RBI has made it completely clear that the old paper notes present in the market will not be discontinued at all and they will remain legal tender as before. Since this is just a pilot project, the central bank will first thoroughly study the results and practicalities of its limited trial.
RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra himself, in the press conference held after the recent Monetary Policy of June 2026, clearly said, “The proposal to introduce polymer notes is still under full consideration. The central bank is assessing all its technical aspects and pros and cons and no final seal has been given on it yet.”
When will these new notes come into your hands? Know the possible date
This idea of plastic notes is not new in India. Earlier in 2012, the then UPA government had planned to conduct a field trial of 100 crore polymer notes of Rs 10 each in five major cities of the country – Kochi, Mysore, Jaipur, Shimla and Bhubaneswar, but due to some technical hurdles, that project was shelved. Now after about 14 years, RBI has implemented it again. According to media reports and market experts, if this tender process and initial trial is completely successful, then the full-scale rollout of these plastic notes can start in the markets across the country from the year 2027.