Demonetisation: Old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes used to make plywood

The shredded old currency notes will be tossed with fine wood chips and then passed through a heavy press.

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: In a major assault on black money and terror financing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 announced demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes and asked holders of such notes to deposit them in bank accounts.

The scrapped or banned notes comprise 86 percent of India's currency and is getting replaced with new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 rupee notes.

Close to Rs 23,000 crores banned notes will be accumulated once all the existing Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency are being recalled.

Lakhs of such currency notes will be made into briquetes. There are 27 shredding and briquetting machines in 19 offices of the RBI.

As per an Economic Times report, the briquettes made out of old currency notes are being sent to Western India Plywood (WIPL) in Kerala's Kannur district.

So far, WIPL has recieved over 140 tonnes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 for pulping.

WIPL was already given a trial mandate with 10-15 bags of shredded soiled notes which it turned into unusable pulp. WPIL takes 40 tonnes of these scrapped notes from RBI per week for which it pays Rs 250 per tonne.

The shredded notes will be tossed with fine wood chips and then passed through a heavy press.

“Out of every 100 kg of pulp compound pressed, only 7 kg is shredded notes; the rest is wood chips,” ET said.