The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) spent Rs 7,965 crore on printing currency notes between July 2016 and June 2017, compared to Rs 3,420 crore in 2015-16, an increase of 133%, according to RBI’s annual report 2016-17.
The rise in expenditure was attributed to newly designed notes of higher denominations and the need to replace demonetised currency, the RBI report said. Banknotes were often airlifted from the presses