Mumbai Nov 11 (IANS) The India Government Mint (IGM) has neither minted nor issued any currency coins above the denomination of Rs 10 for circulation in the country unlike what is being claimed in some social media posts it was disclosed in response to an RTI application.
Mumbai-based Manoranjan S. Roy had sought a clarification from the IGM through the RTI application following widespread reports that the government had minted special ultra high-value coins of Rs 50 Rs 100 Rs 200 Rs 1 000 and even Rs 2 000 in recent times.
"Many pictures were circulated in the social media which went viral over the past few months about such high-value coins. Strangely though these purported special coins were never actually visible in the public domain. Hence I filed an RTI query to the IGM on September 25 seeking the correct position " Roy told IANS.
The IGM said in its reply that since 1995 it had been issuing only 10 paise 25 paise 50 paise Re 1 Rs 2 and Rs 5 coins.
After 2000 it stopped minting the 10 paise coins which later gradually disappeared from circulation and by 2005 it stopped minting even the 25 paise coins which were finally withdrawn in 2011 from circulation.
Earlier in 2009-2010 the IGM introduced Rs 10 coins for the first time in the country as per the reply.
"Currently from 2012-2013 the IGM has stopped minting even the 50 paise coins which continue to circulate in the market. Now it mints only Rs 10 denomination coins only " Roy explained.
At present the IGM has put in circulation 68.9560 million coins (Rs 10) 171.0750 million (Rs 5) 281.2125 million (Rs 2) and 437.9225 million (Re 1) totalling to 959.1660 million coins of these denominations in the market produced through its mints in Mumbai Kolkata Hyderabad and NOIDA.
"With these figures revealed by IGM it s a mystery how some mischievous elements are circulating photos and information about non-existent ultra high-value coins. This damages the credibility of the government and must be investigated by a specialised agency like the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau " Roy demanded.
--IANS
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