New Delhi
14 August 2007
Are you tired of arguing with your autorickshaw driver over small
change? Or irritated when your neighbourhood grocer asks you to buy more so that you
pay a round figure? Do not fret as help is at hand, says Union Minister of Finance P
Chidambaram.
On Tuesday he reassured the nation that the shortage of small coins will be overcome in
the next four to six weeks as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has taken steps to make
available adequate supplies in cities across the country.
He was responding to the question raised by Jaya Bachchan of Samajwadi Party during
Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha. She wanted to know from the minister whether he was
aware that there is an acute shortage of small coins in the country and what steps were
being taken to address the problem.
Mr Chidambaram said: "The shortage of small coins in Maharashtra, Karnataka, the
North-East and Orissa will be overcome in four to six weeks."
He acknowledged receipt of reports about coins being melted by unscrupulous persons
and smuggled across the border. The RBI has accordingly begun issuing coins made
from Ferritic Stainless Steel rpt Ferritic Stainless Steel instead of Cupro Nickel rpt Cupro
Nickel. According to one report, coins were being melted, smuggled into Bangladesh and
turned into razor blades.
Mr Chidambaram assured the House that there was adequate stocks in the Mints. "There
could be shortage in bank currency chests or issuing offices," he conceded.
He faulted the "wrong estimation of demand" at the issuing offices for the shortage. "We
are correcting that. There are still pockets where there is a mismatch (between demand
and supply), that is being corrected." The RBI has since taken corrective measures and
pumped 239 million coins in the first half of this year. He said that the problem could
also be traced back to the "reverse flow" of coins into the currency chests as supply
overshot demand.
The minister added that the Ministry of Finance will liaise with the Ministry of Railways
to transport coins to remote parts of the country.
According to the RBI, coins are received from the Mints and issued into circulation
through the Regional Issue Offices and/or Sub-Offices of the RBI, currency chests and
coin depots maintained by banks, and Government Treasuries. These offices issue
coins to the public directly through their counters and also send coin remittances to the
currency chests and small coin depots. The currency chests and small coin depots
distribute coins to the public, customers and other bank branches in their area of
operation. The members of the public can approach the RBI offices or the other agencies
for requirement of coins.
// Know your coin //
* Coins up to 50 paise are called Small Coins
* Coins of Rupee one and above are called Rupee Coins
* Coins are minted at the four India Government Mints at Mumbai, Alipore (Kolkata),
Saifabad (Hyderabad), Cherlapally (Hyderabad) and NOIDA (UP)
* There are 4,422 currency chest branches and 3,784 small coin depots.
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