98.26% of Rs2000 banknotes back with RBI

New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released an update on the withdrawal of Rs2000 denomination banknotes, which was initially announced on May 19, 2023. The update on Monday stated that 98.26 per cent of the banknotes in circulation as of the announcement date have been returned.

According to the RBI, the total value of Rs2000 banknotes in circulation stood at Rs3.56 trillion at the close of business on May 19, 2023. This figure has now declined to Rs61.81 billion as of the close of business on May 31, 2025.

"The facility for exchange of the Rs2000 banknotes is available at the 19 issue offices of the Reserve Bank since May 19, 2023. From October 9, 2023, RBI issue offices are also accepting Rs2000 banknotes from individuals/entities for deposit into their bank accounts," RBI said in a release.

Those 19 RBI issue offices are in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna, and Thiruvananthapuram.

"Further, members of the public are sending Rs2000 banknotes through India Post from any post office within the country, to any of the RBI issue offices for credit to their bank accounts, the bank further added.

The RBI reiterated that the Rs2000 banknotes continue to be legal tender.

The Rs2000 banknote was introduced in November 2016, primarily to meet the currency requirements of the economy expeditiously after the withdrawal of the legal tender status of all Rs500 and Rs1000 banknotes in circulation at that time.

The objective of introducing Rs2000 banknotes was met once banknotes in other denominations became available in adequate quantities. Therefore, the printing of Rs2000 banknotes was stopped in 2018-19.