New Delhi, Aug. 13 -- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor, Sanjay Malhotra, announced last week that the government is conducting a pilot to test how polymer banknotes will perform in Indian conditions, climate and infrastructure.

While speaking at a press conference following the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, he said the rollout is expected to happen at the beginning of the next fiscal year if everything goes according to plan. However, the RBI governor did not specify a date for the launch of these plastic banknotes.

The proposed rollout of polymer notes came up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday (11 August), when MP Neeraj Shekhar asked whether the government and the RBI plan to introduce plastic money and, ...