Cash in circulation hits ₹42.43 lakh crore, underscoring its staying power alongside UPI

India’s currency in circulation reached ₹42.43 lakh crore on Aug. 7, with cash demand remaining strong among non-metro, lower-income, older and small-business consumers. The trend reinforces the need for retailers to maintain reliable cash acceptance even as UPI scales.

— Source publishedTue, 25 Aug, 2026, 08:56 IST·First seen Tue, 25 Aug, 2026, 09:29 IST·Source NDTV Profit

What happened

Reserve Bank of India · RBI says cash use continues to grow alongside UPI, led by non-metro, lower-income, older and small-business consumers. Potential UPI

Key facts

  • Currency in circulation: Rs 42.43 lakh crore as of August 7
  • CIC: Rs 37.24 lakh crore in FY25
  • CIC: Rs 41.65 lakh crore in FY26
  • 17,600 crore banknotes in circulation
  • 2,800-3,000 crore banknotes printed annually
  • Nearly 2,100 crore banknotes disposed annually
  • CIC was Rs 16.63 lakh crore in FY16 and Rs 24.47 lakh crore in FY20
  • Rural monthly per-capita consumption expenditure rose 164% over a decade
  • Average monthly ATM cash dispensation was around Rs 1.30 crore in 2025

Why this matters

Prioritise partnerships or acquisitions that strengthen unified cash-and-digital payment infrastructure, particularly across underserved non-metro merchant networks.

What to watch

  • Cash share of retailer GMV and transaction count by tier-2/3 versus metro stores.
  • UPI transaction value growth relative to currency-in-circulation growth, especially for offline and merchant payments.
  • RBI policy changes on cash logistics, digital-payment acceptance, offline UPI or merchant payment costs.
  • Frequency and duration of network or payment-app outages causing checkout disruption.
  • ATM cash withdrawal patterns, denomination availability and cash-in-transit costs.
  • Adoption of credit-on-UPI and UPI Lite among lower-income and older consumers.
  • Evidence that cashless-only policies are increasing walkouts, lower basket conversion or customer complaints in regional stores.
  • Maintain cash acceptance across all stores and formats; avoid cashless-only policies in value, rural, transit and neighborhood locations.
  • Segment payment mix by city tier, store format, basket size, customer cohort and daypart to set localized till-float and staffing levels.
  • Build resilient checkout flows: static and dynamic QR, offline payment fallback where permitted, card acceptance, adequate cash floats and clear outage procedures.
  • Invest in cash operations automation, including smart safes, counterfeit detection, cash-in-transit optimization and daily reconciliation controls.
  • Use payment-method data to tailor promotions without penalizing cash shoppers; reserve UPI-linked offers for incremental behavior rather than making discounts inaccessible to cash users.
  • Model total payment cost by store, including MDR or incentives, failed-payment recovery, cashier time, shrinkage, cash pickup fees and lost sales from payment refusal.