By Admin 
- India to reintroduce plastic currency notes by 2026.
- Two previous attempts by RBI had earlier failed.
- New strategy focuses on domestic production; Ten-twenty notes ago.
India Plastic Notes: India is once again preparing to introduce plastic currency notes. But this is not the country’s first attempt. The Reserve Bank of India had already tried to introduce polymer bank notes twice in 2010 and 2017. But both times these efforts were stopped. Now in 2026, RBI has restarted this project with a new strategy. In this strategy, the focus is not only on printing plastic notes but also on creating the infrastructure to make them in India.
Latest steps in this matter
Actually it started when RBI subsidiary Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited issued a global tender to set up a polymer substrate factory in the country. Under the pilot project, it is expected to introduce ₹ 10 and ₹ 20 notes first. Because these notes are used the most and get spoiled quickly.
India’s first attempt
India’s journey towards polymer bank notes started in April 2010. RBI had planned to test the strength and performance of plastic notes in different weather conditions across the country. Between 2012 and 2014, the central bank proposed a field trial with one billion polymer notes of ₹10. Five cities Jaipur, Shimla, Bhubaneswar, Mysore and Kochi were selected for the pilot project. This is because there were different weather conditions there. This would have helped RBI to understand how the notes would work in different environments. Despite all the preparations, this scheme could not progress beyond the trial stage.
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second try
This proposal came up again in March 2017. The Central Government told the Parliament that it has once again approved the field trial of ₹10 polymer notes. Approval was also given to purchase polymer sheets required for printing. However, despite getting official approval, the project did not move forward and ultimately it was shelved without bringing polymer notes into circulation.
What was the reason behind these failures?
One of the biggest obstacles was India’s banking infrastructure. At that time, most ATMs, cash sorting machines and vending systems were based on traditional cotton paper currency. He was not able to identify the polymer notes properly, nor was he able to count and issue them. Along with this, a lot of investment is required to upgrade millions of machines across the country.
Along with this, another big challenge was the absence of domestic production facilities for high security polymer substrate. Although India already had the infrastructure to make cotton-based currency paper, it was completely dependent on foreign suppliers for security grade polymer material.
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