A leading Chinese newspaper has made a startling claim about Indian currency notes. According to a report in South China Morning Post, the Chinese money production plants are printing marriage certificates and driving licences and are now getting bulk orders to print currency of India besides other countries. Liu Guisheng, president of the China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation, said that China did not print foreign currency until recently. Twitter After Beijing launched a pilot project in 2013 to link Southeast Asia, Central China Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a sea and land route, the country claims that it has seized the opportunities brought by the initiative and won contracts to currency production projects. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor took note of the development and expressed concerns over production of counterfeit currency by Pakistan. He said that it "could have disturbing national security implications". If true, this has disturbing national security implications. Not to mention making it easier for Pak to counterfeit. @PiyushGoyal @arunjaitley please clarify! https://t.co/POD2CcNNuL — Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 12, 2018<doc-sep>The Centre on Monday denied reports that a Chinese corporation had been granted a contract to print Indian currency, ANI reported. Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs Subash Chandra Garg said the report in the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post was “totally baseless”. The daily had claimed that China was printing foreign currency on a massive scale in an effort to step up its influence in the world economy. “Indian currency notes are being [and] will be printed only in Indian government and RBI currency presses,” Garg told ANI. The South China Morning Post report quoted “multiple sources” in the China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation as saying that currency presses across the country “were running at near full capacity to meet an unusually high quota set by the government this year.” The report claimed that most of the demand is from members of the Belt and Road Initiative. In recent years, the China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation “seized the opportunities brought by the initiative” and “successfully won contracts for currency production projects in a number of countries including Thailand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, India, Brazil and Poland.” Reports about any Chinese currency printing corporation getting any orders for printing Indian currency notes are totally baseless. Indian currency notes are being & will be printed only in Indian Govt & RBI currency presses: Subash Chandra Garg, Secy, Dept of Economic Affairs pic.twitter.com/b3zmp662Ay — ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2018 The Aam Aadmi Party sought the Centre’s clarification on the matter on Monday. The party’s national spokesperson, Raghav Chadha, termed it a “big threat to India’s national security” and “financial sovereignty”, reported Hindustan Times. Chadha asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi why this information was not available in the public domain. “What were the reasons behind approaching a foreign firm instead of assigning someone domestically?” Chadha asked. “Was India approached by China, and did we succumb to pressure from them in their bid to increase their global influence?” Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Randeep Singh Surjewala said such a move, if true, will have national security implications. “Not to mention making it easier for Pakistan to counterfeit,” Tharoor tweeted. If true, this has disturbing national security implications. Not to mention making it easier for Pak to counterfeit. @PiyushGoyal @arunjaitley please clarify! https://t.co/POD2CcNNuL — Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 12, 2018<doc-sep>"Reports about any Chinese currency printing corporation getting any orders for printing Indian currency notes are totally baseless. Indian currency notes are being and will be printed only in Indian government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) currency presses," an official from the Department of Economic Affairs told news agency ANI.<doc-sep>Indian currency notes are being and will be printed only in Indian government and RBI currency presses. (Photo: PTI) A Chinese news outlet created a stir by claiming that China prints currencies for some of the countries including India. Reacting to the report, few Opposition parties demanded a clarification from the Modi government. The government has now refuted the claims saying, "Reports about any Chinese currency printing corporation getting any orders for printing Indian currency notes are totally baseless." Subhash Chandra Garg, secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs said, "Indian currency notes are being and will be printed only in Indian government and RBI currency presses." India has an elaborate process of printing its currency. With major capacity enhancement in 2015, India is self-sufficient in printing all the currency requirements. The Reserve Bank of India and the Ministry of Finance follow an elaborate process to decide the volume of currency that is to be in circulation in a given financial year. HOW MUCH MONEY DO WE NEED? The process begins with the RBI calculating the annual cash requirement of the country before the beginning of every fiscal year. The RBI works on an econometric model to decide the number of currency notes for each denomination. Variables like number of notes currently in circulation, number of those destroyed over the last fiscal year and the volume of re-monetisation or replacement required for soiled notes are taken into account. The final number of currency notes to be printed for each denomination is decided on the basis of projections for GDP growth rate, inflation and electronic transactions. Data collection is done at all the 19 regional offices of the RBI. The data are analysed every quarter at the regional centres. Once the RBI is ready with of estimate cash requirement for the next fiscal year, it consults the finance ministry, where the Coins and Currency Division (CCD) is the overseeing authority. The CCD and the RBI then decide how much currency is to be printed. The final decision making remains a closely guarded secret between a few officials of the RBI and the CCD in the finance ministry. HOW THE DEMAND IS RAISED India has four currency note printing presses. The central government controls two of them - at Nashik in Maharashtra and Dewas in Madhya Pradesh while an RBI subsidiary, the Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (P) Ltd controls the other two - at Mysuru in Karnataka and Salboni in West Bengal. These four note printing presses get the orders, technically called indent, to print currency notes. The indent carries clear instructions about currency denominations and number of notes to be printed for each of them. ALSO READ | Report claims China printing Indian currency, govt denies DESIGNING The paper on which currency is printed is designed, produced and supplied to printing presses by two mills - at Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh and Mysuru, Karnataka. Hoshangabad mill is under government control while Mysuru mill is run by the RBI. Hoshangabad is the older mill, established in 1967. It has a capacity of printing high-security banknote papers that can turn into 8 billion note pieces. Mysuru mill is new, coming up only in 2015, and has double the capacity of Hoshangabad mill. The designing of banknote paper involves embedding various security features including three-dimensional watermark, micro-lettering and security threads. The designs are prepared and improved upon by an in-house research team. No foreign hand is involved as claimed in the report by Chinese media. PRINTING Once the banknote paper has been embedded with security features, it is sent to the four printing presses. These presses add additional security feature of optically variable ink. The printing is done on the big sheets of banknote paper. Each sheet is big enough to carry 40 pieces of Rs 2,000 currency. Pieces are cut and numbered telescopically for packaging. Bundles are made here and sent to the RBI, which in turns transports to its regional centres and storage vaults across the country. From the RBI vaults, the currency notes reach banks and ATMs (automated teller machines). ALSO READ | Is China printing the Indian rupee?<doc-sep>
New Delhi: Forced to produce marriage certificates and driving licences to keep the Chinese money production plants from rusting, the country is witnessing a sudden arrival of "big orders" for currency production projects from a number of countries, including India, reported South China Morning Post. According to Liu Guisheng, president of the China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation, China did not print foreign currency until recently. But in 2013, Beijing launched the belt and road plan with an aim to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes. Since then the company had “seized the opportunities brought by the initiative” and “successfully won contracts for currency production projects in a number of countries including Thailand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, India, Brazil and Poland,” he said. According to South China Morning Post, that could be just the tip of the iceberg. Taking note of the development, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor expressed fears that it could make it easier for Pakistan to counterfeit notes and "could have disturbing national security implications". If true, this has disturbing national security implications. Not to mention making it easier for Pak to counterfeit. @PiyushGoyal @arunjaitley please clarify! https://t.co/POD2CcNNuL— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 12, 2018 Some governments have asked Beijing not to publicise the deal because they are worried such information could compromise national security or trigger “unnecessary debates at home”, said the Chinese paper. "The world economic landscape is undergoing some profound changes. As China becomes bigger and more powerful, it will challenge the value system established by the West. Printing money for other countries is an important step,” said Liu Guisheng. The international money printing market has been dominated by Western companies for more than a century, the move is seen as a reflection of Beijing's desire to increase its influence on the world economy and geopolitics. Rubbishing the allegations, the government said Indian notes were only printed within the country. Subash Chandra Garg, secretary of the department of economic affairs, said the reports were baseless and "Indian currency notes are being & will be printed only in Indian Govt & RBI currency presses".