RBI clears trials of up to 2bn polymer ₹10 and ₹20 notes
India’s central bank has authorised field trials of polymer ₹10 and ₹20 notes, a first step toward a potential multi-year shift in cash handling. Wider adoption would require ATM, vending-machine and cash-logistics recalibration while aiming to cut replacement costs and counterfeiting risk.
What happened
Reserve Bank of India · RBI has authorised field trials of up to 2 billion polymer Rs 10 and Rs 20 notes. The gradual rollout would require ATM, vending-machine
Key facts
- Up to 2 billion polymer notes authorised for field trials
- 1 billion Rs 10 notes
- 1 billion Rs 20 notes
- Rs 43 trillion currency in circulation
- Rs 6,500 crore security-printing spend in FY25
- 24 billion soiled notes disposed of in FY25
- Rs 50 trillion worth of soiled notes discarded over the last decade
Why this matters
Explore partnerships with cash-logistics, ATM and payment-hardware providers that can certify, retrofit or replace equipment for polymer-note compatibility.
What to watch
- RBI disclosure of pilot cities, circulation volumes, trial duration and criteria for wider issuance.
- Publication of polymer-note technical specifications, security features and machine-validation guidance.
- Bank, ATM-network and cash-recycler notices on firmware certification, sensor upgrades or cassette-setting changes.
- Reports of retailer, vending-machine, transit-gate or cash-deposit-machine rejection rates in trial markets.
- RBI or government commitment to replace additional denominations or set a national polymer-currency rollout timetable.
- Evidence that lower replacement frequency materially reduces banks' and retailers' cash-processing costs.
- Ask cash-management banks, CIT providers and ATM deployers whether current note counters, recyclers and deposit machines can validate polymer ₹10 and ₹20 notes without hardware changes.
- Inventory vending, self-service kiosk, ticketing and parking-payment validators that accept ₹10 or ₹20 notes; obtain vendor firmware roadmaps, certification timelines and upgrade costs.
- Add polymer-note acceptance and authenticity checks to frontline cashier training, cash-office SOPs and store exception logging before local circulation expands.
- Track cash reconciliation by note type in pilot regions to identify machine rejects, counterfeit flags, deposit disputes and higher handling time.
- Avoid broad hardware replacement until RBI identifies trial locations, publishes technical specifications and signals a scale-up decision.