No decision to discontinue printing of Rs 2000 note: Finance Ministry

The government has not placed any orders for printing of Rs 2,000 denomination notes during 2019-20 and 2020-21, the finance ministry informed the Lok Sabha on Saturday.

During the year 2019-20 and 2020-21, no indent was placed with the presses for printing of Rs 2,000 denomination notes, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur said in a written reply.

He, however, said there was no decision to discontinue the printing of Rs 2,000 denomination currency by the government.

Thakur also informed that as on March 31, 2020, there were 27,398 lakh pieces of Rs 2,000 notes in circulation compared to 32,910 lakh pieces on March 31, 2019.

He said the RBI has informed that in view of nationwide lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the printing of notes stopped temporarily.

However, the note printing presses resumed production in a phased manner, as per the guidelines issued by Central/State Government, Thakur said.