Over six months after the demonetisation decision marked the first major change in Indian currency notes in over a decade, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said it will soon put into circulation currency notes in Re 1 denomination though existing notes and coins will continue to be legal tender.
The new Re 1 notes, which have been printed by the government, will be pink-green in colour on obverse and reverse, and will have a floral design with a picture of Sagar Samrat, the oil exploration platform.
“These currency notes are legal tender as provided in The Coinage Act 2011,” RBI said in a release.
Only these rupee one notes and coins are signed by the Finance Secretary as they are printed by the central government under The Coinage Act 2011. All other Indian currency notes in India are printed by RBI.
The new notes will bear the bilingual signature of Economic Affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das.
According to the RBI, the note will be rectangular in size with dimensions of 9.7 cm and 6.3 cm. It will be made of 100 per cent rag content.
Made with 110 microns thick paper, the weight will be 90 GSM (grams per square meter).
The move comes after the government introduced new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes in November last year, as part of its demonetisation drive.
In an attempt to crack down on black money, the Centre had junked the old Rs 500 notes and replaced them with new ones. The exercise also saw the introduction of new Rs 2,000 notes.
