Is this the new Rs 50 currency note the RBI plans to introduce soon?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in December last year had said that it would issue new currency notes of Rs 50 and Rs 20 denominations with numerals in ascending size in the number panels and without intaglio printing.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in December last year had said that it would issue new currency notes of Rs 50 and Rs 20 denominations with numerals in ascending size in the number panels and without intaglio printing. Eight months later, pictures of the yet-to-be-unveiled notes of Rs 50 denomination are out on social media. The notes are paled turquoise in colour, quite different from the notes of the same denomination that are currently in circulation. They are in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005 and will bear the signature of current RBI Governor Urjit Patel.

In December, the central bank had said, “The Reserve Bank will shortly issue Rs 50 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005, without inset letter in both the number panels, bearing signature of Dr Urjit R Patel, Governor, Reserve Bank of India, and the year of printing ‘2016’ printed on the reverse of the banknote.” The bank said that the design and security features of the new notes will be similar to the old tender, which will continue in circulation.

A government official told The Hindu Business Line that the new notes will sport the motif of a South Indian temple on the reverse, although indianexpress.com could not independently confirm the same.

After the government, in a sudden move, withdrew old currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 on the night of November 8 last year, the RBI introduced new notes of Rs 500 (stone-grey in colour) and Rs 2000 (purple in colour) in order to refill the circulation. The demonetisation exercise, that withdrew almost 86 of the currency in circulation, was carried out by the Centre in order to cut down on corruption, root out counterfeit currency and eliminate terrorist funding.

Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das earlier this year said the government has no plans to introduce new Rs 1000 currency note and that the focus is on lower denomination notes.