RBI celebrates 90 years: Here's about the printing and minting presses!

As the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the sole organization responsible for issuing all banknotes, including the denominations of Rs 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, and 500, along with the coins of 50 paise, 1, 2, 5, and 10 rupees, except the one rupee note, celebrates its 90th year of existence today, dignitaries, including PM Narendra Modi, are attending a ceremony at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai. The ceremony is also being attended by the RBI Governor, Shaktikanta Das, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, with their keynote address focusing on trends in the Indian financial sector. We are here to shed light on the printing and minting presses in India responsible for circulating cash into the Indian economy.

The RBI's origins date back to 1935 when it became the central bank of India, regulated by the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. Section 22 of the Act authorizes the RBI to issue notes. Before this, currency management was actively monitored by the Indian government.

But what does the process of printing notes look like now? After the corporatization of presses and mints under the Indian Ministry of Finance in 2006, all the production of banknotes, coins, and postage stamps was managed by the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL).

Process and the mix of cities

Source

The first and foremost step consists of decision-making, during which the regional offices of RBI in India collect and analyze the data required to forecast the cash needed for the upcoming fiscal year. Once the data is submitted to the RBI main office, which is in Mumbai, the body, along with the Coins and Currency Division (CCD), sends the instructions to the mills for designing currencies.

Designing

• Two mills in India handle the design before sending it to the printing presses.
• The process includes the security papers on which these mills design, produce, and create the designs for the currencies.
• The addition of micro-lettering three-dimensional watermark, and security features are also done by the design team.
• Established in 1967 and under the central government's control, the mill in Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh carries the due functions.
• Under the control of RBI, a mill, that started in 2015 in Mysuru, Karnataka performs the same functions. 

After the final design is considered and approved, it is sent to the four printing presses. 

Printing press under different controls

• Under the control of the central government are the printing presses located at Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, and Nasik, Maharashtra, with Nasik being the first printing press established in 1928.
• Under the control of Bhartiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Ltd, a subsidiary of RBI that was opened in 1995, two mills are present, in  Mysore, Karnataka and Salboni, West Bengal respectively.
• These presses also add the optically variable ink, an additional security feature.
• The one-rupee note is issued by the Ministry of Finance and carries the initials of the finance secretary. It also contains 1 rupee written in 13 regional languages.

After the printing, the notes are sent to the RBI headquarters which are then distributed to teh regional offices to be sent to the banks and the ATMs. 

Coin-minting in four cities 

• The government of India holds the responsibility of minting the coins under the Coinage Act, of 2011.
• The minting of coins is done in Noida, Kolkata, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
• While the central government monitors the process, the RBI is solely responsible for distributing the coins. 

All in all, as the PM said in the ceremony today, "Indian banking system is worthy of a case study" where the RBI has always been deemed to have fulfilled its objectives.

With inputs from Mint, RBI, and Pscarivukal.