NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced on Wednesday that 98.12 percent of the Rs 2,000 banknotes withdrawn from circulation have been returned to the banking system.
The apex bank revealed that as of December 31, 2024, only Rs 6,691 crore worth of Rs 2,000 notes remain with the public, marking a sharp decline from the total value of Rs 3.56 lakh crore in circulation when the notes were demonetised on May 19, 2023.
“Thus, 98.12 per cent of the Rs 2000 banknotes in circulation as on May 19, 2023, has since been returned,” RBI said in a statement, according to news agency PTI.
The facility to exchange or deposit the Rs 2,000 notes remained available at all bank branches until October 7, 2023. However, the option is still open at the 19 issue offices of the RBI, where individuals and entities can deposit the notes into their bank accounts.
The RBI offices have continued to accept Rs 2,000 notes for deposit, since October 9, 2023, with additional provisions allowing the public to send the notes via India Post to any of the RBI issue offices for credit to their accounts.
Despite the withdrawal from circulation, the Rs 2,000 notes remain legal tender. The 19 RBI offices accepting the notes are located in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna, and Thiruvananthapuram.
These Rs 2,000 banknotes were first introduced in November 2016, following the demonetisation of the Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes.
