Additional security features in currency notes soon

The government plans to increase the security features in currency notes to tackle the menace of large-scale counterfeiting of Indian rupees.

The government plans to increase the security features in currency notes to tackle the menace of large-scale counterfeiting of Indian rupees. Accordingly,the finance ministry has issued a global tender asking companies to offer fresh security features and technology for the new series of bank notes.

Features like watermark and a security thread help distinguish original and fake currency notes. But counterfeiters are now using sophisticated technology to adopt these features in fake notes as well. Fresh security features are needed as it is becoming increasingly difficult to identify fake notes, a finance ministry official said.

Interested firms have been asked to submit their bids by October 13,the finance ministry said. Those shortlisted would be expected to make a detailed presentation before a government committee. The government has been trying to work out measures to address the problem of fake currency for a long time now. A recent central bank directive warned that a large number of counterfeit notes in denominations of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 are being widely circulated.

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Recently,a panel led by former bureaucrat Sheelabhadra Banerjee suggested a slew of measures to combat the problem of fake notes.

Following the report,the government set up a Directorate of Currency in the finance ministry to monitor and evaluate the efficacy of existing security features and suggest new ones.

Meanwhile to address the problem,the Reserve Bank of India is planning to issue polymer notes starting with Rs 10 denomination.