The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that 97.87% of the Rs 2000 denomination banknotes have been returned to the banking system, leaving only Rs 7,581 crore worth of these notes still with the public. The withdrawal of the Rs 2000 banknotes from circulation was initiated on May 19, 2023.
At the time of the announcement, the total value of Rs 2000 banknotes in circulation stood at Rs 3.56 lakh crore. This amount has significantly reduced to Rs 7,581 crore by the close of business on June 28, 2024, highlighting the successful return of the majority of these notes.
The RBI provided a facility for the deposit and exchange of the Rs 2000 banknotes at all bank branches across the country until October 7, 2023. Following this date, from October 9, 2023, individuals and entities have been able to deposit the Rs 2000 banknotes at the 19 RBI issue offices.
Additionally, these notes can be sent via India Post from any post office to any of the RBI issue offices for credit into bank accounts. The 19 RBI issue offices handling the exchange and deposit of these 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.
The Rs 2000 banknotes were initially introduced in November 2016 after the demonetization of the Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes. This move aimed to curb black money and counterfeiting.
Also watch: RBI suspends Rs 2,000 note exchange/deposit facility on April 1