New Delhi: Have you ever wondered how much it costs the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to print Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 200 and Rs 500 notes? The exact cost of printing notes of different denominations varies greatly. Moreover, with rising input costs, the cost of printing notes is increasing every year, making the distribution of notes costly for the central bank. There has been a marginal increase in the selling price of Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100 and Rs 2022 notes in the financial year 2021-22. However, the cost of selling of Rs 500 did not change, while the price came down to Rs 10 from last year’s price.
According to information obtained by The Hindu Businessline through a Right to Information (RTI) from Reserve Bank of India Note Mudran Limited (BRBNML), the selling price of Rs 10 denomination notes was Rs 960 for 1000 pieces. So the cost of a 10 rupee note was around 96 paise. (Also read: Markets fall after two days of respite amid weak global cues)
Similarly, the selling cost of Rs 20 notes was Rs 950 per 100 pieces, meaning that a Rs 20 note cost 95 paise – 10 paise less than a Rs 10 note. (Also read: ‘Tamasha’, ‘Nautanki’ companies duped IDBI, Bank of Baroda, HDFC Rs 150 crore, know details)
Here is the cost of printing notes of different denominations:
Printing cost per 1000 pieces of denomination
Rs 50 Rs 1,130
Rs 100 Rs 1,770
Rs 200 Rs 2,370
Rs 500 Rs 2,290
The selling price of Rs 50 in FY 2011 saw a maximum increase of 23% over the cost. On the other hand, as per RTI data accessed by BusinessLine, a marginal increase of 1% was observed in the cost of printing Rs 20 notes.
In all, the Reserve Bank of India paid Rs 5,000 crore for currency printing in the last financial year. The number was the second highest after demonetisation, as the central bank spent around Rs 8,000 crore that year.