The Reserve Bank of India has confirmed that 98.24 percent of the 2,000-rupee banknotes that were in circulation as of May 19, 2023, have now been returned, reducing the total value of these notes still outside the banking system to 6.27 billion rupees as of the close of business on April 30, 2025.
The withdrawal of the 2,000-rupee banknotes was first announced on May 19, 2023, when the total value of such notes in circulation stood at 3.56 trillion rupees. This means that less than two percent of the total issued banknotes remain in circulation. However, the Reserve Bank has reiterated that these notes continue to be legal tender, allowing individuals and entities to use them for transactions.
Since the withdrawal announcement, the facility for exchanging the 2,000-rupee banknotes has been available at the Reserve Bank’s 19 Issue Offices. Additionally, since October 9, 2023, these offices have been accepting deposits of these banknotes into bank accounts. The Reserve Bank has also enabled members of the public to send their 2,000-rupee notes through India Post from any post office in the country to any of the central bank’s Issue Offices for direct credit into their accounts.
The central bank periodically releases updates on the status of the withdrawal, with the previous update published on October 1, 2024. Initially, banks across the country had provided facilities for depositing or exchanging 2,000-rupee notes until October 7, 2023, after which the process was centralized to the Reserve Bank’s offices.
The 2,000-rupee banknote was first introduced in November 2016 to quickly meet the currency requirements of the economy following the demonetization of the 500- and 1,000-rupee notes. With the stabilization of cash availability across different denominations, printing of the 2,000-rupee note was discontinued in 2018-19.
Most of these banknotes were issued before March 2017, nearing the end of their estimated lifespan of four to five years. The Reserve Bank observed that the denomination was not frequently used in transactions and that sufficient supply of lower-denomination notes was available to meet public currency needs.
In line with the Reserve Bank’s Clean Note Policy, which aims to ensure the availability of high-quality banknotes for the public, the decision was taken to withdraw the 2,000-rupee note from circulation. Despite this, the notes continue to hold legal tender status, allowing individuals to use them within the existing framework for deposits and exchanges.
The Reserve Bank’s update reflects the continued decline in the circulation of the high-denomination notes and the successful execution of the withdrawal strategy. The remaining notes are expected to be phased out gradually as the deposit and exchange mechanisms continue at central banking facilities.
