Making money in India

Whilst the Australian company has the capacity to print India’s banknote requirement, it would also be interested in a deal to work with a technology partner in India who could locally manufacture the polymer substrate on which future Indian currency could be printed.

A joint venture between the Reserve Bank of Australia and Belgium’s UCB Films, Securency holds patents for ’Guardian’, a durable polymer (’plastic’) substrate developed for banknote printing, which, though more expensive than conventional banknote paper, is proven to substantially prolong the life of banknotes in circulation.

Australia printed its first ’plastic’ banknotes in 1988 – a comemmorative $10 bill in commemoration of the bicentennial of settlement. Since then, Securency has printed polymer currency for Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei, China, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nepal, Northern Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Western Samoa and Zambia.

According to Securency, banknotes printed with the company’s technology are more durable and difficult to counterfeit. Having a high velocity of money (the number of times a banknote changes hands), the Indian government would be looking to prolong the life of its banknotes. It is understood that India’s 10 rupee note, for example, has a circulation life of only six months but use of the ’Guardian’ substrate could increase that lifetime to as much as four years, with substantial savings for the Indian government.

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