During the one month since the demonetisation drive was launched, currency notes worth Rs 4.27 lakh crore have been issued to the public by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The central bank said in a statement that it would shortly start issuing the new Rs 500 denomination notes in the Mahatma Gandhi series, which would bear RBI governor Urjit Patel's signature. The bank has also made arrangements for enough supply of bank notes under various denominations to the public through banks and ATMs.
"During the period from November 10, 2016 and December 7, 2016, banks have reported that bank notes worth Rs 4,27,684 crore have been issued to the public either over the counter or through ATMs," the RBI said.
The central bank said that about Rs 11.85 lakh crore of defunct notes have been given back to the banks. Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of banning notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations, the central bank had made arrangements to exchange or deposit the old notes.
Since November 10, people had to wait in long queues outside banks to get the currency exchanged. In a bid to further boost cashless economy, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday announced a series of incentives to mark the completion of one month of demonetisation.
The incentives ranged from discounts at fuel stations, online booking of rail tickets, insurance policies and payments at toll plazas.
In the past few days, the Modi government has been under fire from Opposition members as well as people who are facing hardships while withdrawing money from banks and ATMs.
