Forget Rs 2000 currency note, check what happened to Rs 500 note

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had shocked the entire nation in November 2016 when he decided to demonetise old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes. Thereafter, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was asked to print new Rs 2000 currency notes, which the government said would help curb the circulation of black money.

The move hadn't gone well with the public and experts as the government was criticised for bringing out a note of such high denomination even as it had cancelled the already existing Rs 1,000 note. The move wasn't seen in line with government's stated aims for demonetisation - checking tax evasion and money laundering. 

Initially, the notes were accepted by consumers. As many as 328.5 crore Rs 2,000 notes were in circulation in 2016-17. However, the latest RBI report released in August 2018, revealed that only 7.8 crore notes of Rs 2000 denomination were added in 2017-18, taking the overall circulation to 336.3 crore, as of March 2018. 

The more significant change, however, has come in the form of share in total currency circulation. The report revealed that the share of Rs 2000 notes has come down to 37.3 per cent in March 2018, down by 13 per cent from 50.2 per cent as of March 2017.

However, what has stolen the thunder, so to speak, is the Rs 500 note. This currency note has seen high demand even as the country added as many as 958.7 crore notes in 2017-18, with 588.2 crore notes in circulation the previous year. The share of Rs 500 notes also increased from 22.5 per cent in March 2017 to 42.9 per cent in March 2018.