EIL, MECON, 4 others in fray for RBI's currency management project

Mumbai: State-owned Engineers India and MECON as well as four private entities are in the fray for the project to comprehensively revamp RBI's currency management infrastructure in order to cater to future cash needs of the country's fast growing economy.

The four private entities are: Accenture Solutions; Colliers International (India) Property Services; PricewaterhouseCoopers and The Boston Consulting Group (India).

The RBI had earlier invited expression of interest (EoI) for 'Procurement of Consultancy and Project Management Services for Modernisation of Currency Management Infrastructure in India'. The central bank had received responses from 11 entities.

After evaluating the responses, RBI said it has shortlisted six entities for issuance of Request for Proposal (RFP), according to an official document.

According to the EoI document, the RBI proposes creation of greenfield currency management centres, the introduction of warehouse automation, the installation of security and surveillance systems, an inventory management system, and a centralised command centre.

Despite moderation in the growth rate of NIC (Notes In Circulation), the growth is likely to continue to be positive over the foreseeable future though the pace thereof is expected to be slower over the next decade.

The banknotes are printed at four printing presses, and coins are minted at four mints.

The new banknotes and coins are received at nineteen Issue Offices (IOs) across the country, from where they are further distributed to about 2,800 Currency Chests (CCs) operated by scheduled banks.

In the EoI, the RBI said several central banks/monetary authorities have been facing multiple challenges in currency management due to the increase in the volume of banknotes printed, distributed, retrieved and processed as also due to increasing costs and security risks associated with them.

To handle the increasing volume of banknotes, some central banks/monetary authorities have proactively modernised their currency management infrastructure by adopting suitable re-engineering of their currency management processes and setting up separate facilities for the handling of banknotes.

These countries include Austria, Egypt, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, and the USA.

The RBI, according to the EoI document, is interested in modernisation of the currency (banknotes and coins) management infrastructure across India to create adequate state-of-the-art storage and handling capacity to meet future cash needs of the economy, enhancing efficiency in currency management operations, ensuring security of the highest possible order while contributing towards a greener planet.