Plastic currency notes will be launched in 2015 after field trials, Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan said on Thursday.
“Plastic notes are coming. Tender bids have come for one billion notes. In five cities, pilot testing would be done, including Shimla. In 2015, it would be launched based on the results of pilot testing,” he told reporters.
The government in February had informed Parliament that one billion plastic notes of Rs.10 denomination will be introduced in a field trial in five cities selected for their geographical and climatic diversity.
The other four selected cities are Kochi, Mysore, Jaipur, and Bhubaneswar. The field trial is expected to be launched in the latter half of 2014.
Plastic notes have an average life span of about five years and are difficult to imitate.
Also, currency notes made of plastic are cleaner than paper notes.
