Mumbai, July 19 (Agencies): The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday said it will shortly issue new 100-rupee banknotes under the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series, coloured lavender and smaller than the existing one.
Bearing the signature of RBI Governor Urjit R. Patel, the new banknote has the motif of Rani ki Vav or the Queen’s stepwell, a structure in Patan, Gujarat, that is on the Unesco’s World Heritage List.
The note has other designs and geometric patterns aligning with the colour scheme of lavender, both at the obverse and reverse. The new banknote will be 66mm×142mm, against 73mm×157mm for the existing note.
The RBI said all the banknotes in the denomination of 100 issued in the earlier series would continue to be legal tender.
The printing and supply of these new 100-rupee banknotes for distribution to public through the banking channel will gradually increase.
For the visually impaired, the notes will have intaglio or raised printing of the Mahatma Gandhi portrait, Ashoka Pillar emblem, raised triangular identification mark with micro-text 100, four angular bleed lines both on the right and left sides.
Before the November 2016 demonetisation of the high-denomination 1000- and 500-rupee notes, the banknotes in circulation were in the denominations of Rs 5, Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 500 and Rs 1000.
Pictures: RBI
With the demonetisation, the government introduced a new value—the magenta-coloured 2000-rupee note—and brought in a new-design, stone-grey, 500-rupee note.
Later, in mid-2017, the RBI introduced the country’s first 200-rupee note, coloured bright yellow, and a new 50-rupee note, coloured fluorescent blue.
But it has not replaced the 1000-rupee banknote so far.
The new banknotes – Rs 10, Rs 50, Rs 200, Rs 500, Rs 2000—are smaller than the earlier notes and a uniform 66mm wide, barring the ten-rupee one, which is narrower at 63mm.
The RBI has continued with the earlier-design 20-rupee note so far, leaving it the only one in which the watermark is on the right and Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait is on the left, looking to our right.
