Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur)

Currency gain: Finance ministry notifies issue of ₹200 notes

- Asit Ranjan Mishra asit.m@livemint.com

The finance ministry on Wednesday notified the issue of ₹200 currency notes, making them legal tender and paving the way for their circulatio­n.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 24 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 and on the recommenda­tions of the central board of directors of the Reserve Bank of India, the government hereby specifies the denominati­on of banknotes of the value of two hundred rupees,” the notificati­on stated in the Gazette of India.

On April 3, Mint first reported RBI’s plan to introduce ₹200 banknotes. On July 25, Mint reported that RBI had shifted focus from printing ₹2,000 notes to ₹200 notes of which a billion were expected to be printed.

On Wednesday, economic affairs secretary Subhash Chandra Garg tweeted: “Govt has today specified denominati­on of banknote of ₹200 value. Soon this note will get added to the bucket of currency notes in India.”

Finance minister Arun Jaitley said RBI will decide the date for issuing the new ₹200 notes. He added that the government is not considerin­g withdrawal of the ₹2,000 currency notes.

RBI on August 18 announced that a new ₹50 banknote will be issued shortly under the Mahatma Gandhi series, while notes issued under the earlier series will remain legal tender.

In a surprise announceme­nt, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 announced scrapping of old ₹500 and ₹1,000 currency notes, wiping out over 85% of the cash in circulatio­n.

RBI data shows that currency in circulatio­n stood at ₹15.70 trillion as on August 11, over nine months after demonetisa­tion. This is about 88.70% of the ₹17.7 lakh crore that was in circulatio­n on 4 November. We have not exited the oil and gas business. We still have coal-based methane. We still have Essar Oil UK refinery. We don’t have any plans to re-enter the refining and distributi­on business. Tax implicatio­ns are based on the laws of the land. Part of it (the deal) will be in India and part will be in Mauritius. Based on the laws, whatever tax is applicable will have to be met. It’s too early to determine. We have already issued a clarificat­ion that it is for three years. MumBAi InDiAns KolkAtA Knight RiDers There is no duress. The company has performed exceptiona­lly RoyAl ChAllenger­s BAngAlore Sun Risers HyDerABAD I have the flexibilit­y now to invest and provide a plan. Delhi DAreDevils Kings XI PunjAB

 ?? MINT/FILE ?? FM Arun Jaitley
MINT/FILE FM Arun Jaitley

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from India