RBI introduces bright yellow Rs. 200 currency notes

New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday issued a new currency of Rs. 200 denomination, almost ten months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the government's decision to scrap Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes.

The RBI on Thursday had made the announcement about the new Rs. 200 note in a notification.

The new Rs. 200 notes have been issued with the intention to make day-to-day transactions easier for people, since the lack of denomination between Rs. 500-Rs. 2000 notes, and Rs.100-Rs. 500 often cause a problem for traders and common men alike.

The new Rs. 200 notes may not be available at the ATMs right away, and will first be available at banks.

The Rs. 200 notes are of bright yellow colour.

The latest addition to the Mahatma Gandhi (New) series bears the signature of RBI Governor Urjit Patel. It has the 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 obverse side of the 66 mm×146 mm note features a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi at the centre, with the denominational numeral in the Devnagari script.

Earlier on August 18, RBI released currency of Rs. 50 denominations, which were florescent in colour.

All the banknotes in the denomination of Rs. 50 issued by the RBI in the earlier series will continue to be legal tender.

Last year in December, the central bank had announced the issuance of Rs. 50 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005, without inset letter in both the number panels, bearing signature of Patel and the year of printing '2016' printed on the reverse of the banknote.

It added that the design and security features of the new notes will be similar to the old tender, which will continue in circulation.