RBI introduces ₹200 Note - Check out its Key Features
The Reserve Bank of India issued ₹ 200 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series on August 25, 2017, bearing signature of Dr. Urjit R. Patel, Governor, Reserve Bank of India from select RBI offices, and some banks.
The new denomination has Motif of Sanchi Stupa on the reverse, depicting the country’s cultural heritage. The base colour of the note is Bright Yellow. The note has other designs, geometric patterns aligning with the overall colour scheme, both at the obverse and reverse.
The image and salient features of ₹ 200 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series are as under:
Salient Features of ₹200 Note
₹200 Note :Obverse (Front):
- See through register with denominational numeral 200
- Latent image with denominational numeral 200
- Denominational numeral २०० in Devnagari
- Portrait of Mahatma Gandhi at the centre
- Micro letters ‘RBI’, ‘भारत’, ‘India’ and ‘200’
- Windowed security thread with inscriptions ‘भारत’ and RBI with colour shift. Colour of the thread changes from green to blue when the note is tilted
- Guarantee Clause, Governor’s signature with Promise Clause and RBI emblem towards right of Mahatma Gandhi portrait
- Denominational numeral with Rupee Symbol, ₹ 200 in colour changing ink (green to blue) on bottom right
- Ashoka Pillar emblem on the right
- Mahatma Gandhi portrait and electrotype (200) watermarks
- Number panel with numerals growing from small to big on the top left side and bottom right side
- For visually impaired
- Intaglio or raised printing of Mahatma Gandhi portrait, Ashoka Pillar emblem, raised Identification mark H with micro-text ₹ 200, four angular bleed lines with two circles in between the lines both on the right and left sides
₹200 Note - Reverse (Back):
- Year of printing of the note on the left
- Swachh Bharat logo with slogan
- Language panel
- Motif of Sanchi Stupa
- Denominational numeral २०० in Devnagari
₹200 Note - Dimension
- Dimension of the banknote is 66 mm × 146 mm
Reasons why RBI is introducing Rs 200 notes
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) s introducing Rs 200 notes for filling the missing link between Rs 100 and Rs 500, and thus facilitating ease of exchange for common public.
- The decision to introduce the new note was taken by RBI board in March 2017.
- Introduction of currency notes is done by any central bank based on an assessment of inflation, economic growth, replacement of soiled banknotes, reserve stock requirements, needing to combat counterfeiting but most importantly, to facilitate ease of transactions for the common man.
- The optimal system of denominations of currency is worked out on the basis of minimising the number of denominations needed for offering the exact change. There are actually some renowned international research works behind determining the optimal mix of currency notes.
- According to researchers, for providing exact change, the optimal denominations should proceed in powers of three. But this is not possible in the decimal system, and hence no central bank has been able to follow this. Instead, many countries have adopted a near variation of the international standard of Renard Series (named after French Army Engineer Colonel Charles Renard), which divides the interval of 1 to 10 into 5, 10, 20, or 40 steps.
- This is also called ‘preferred number’ series, which leads to a geometric sequence. For practical purposes, the ratio works out to be 1:2, or 1:2.5 between adjacent denominations, which means the next currency denomination should be twice or two and a half times of the preceding one. This is also closest to the rule of powers of three that a central bank can follow. And hence, after Rs 100 notes, there should be a Rs 200 note, a logical but missing link.