New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday released an update on the withdrawal of ₹2000 denomination banknotes, which was initially announced on May 19, 2023. The update stated that 98.26% of the ₹2000 banknotes in circulation as of the announcement date have been returned.
According to the RBI, the total value of Rs 2000 banknotes in circulation stood at ₹3.56 lakh crore at the close of business on May 19, 2023. This figure has now declined to ₹6,181 crore as of the close of business on May 31, 2025.
“The facility for exchange of the ₹2000 banknotes has been available at the 19 Issue Offices of the Reserve Bank (RBI Issue Offices) since May 19, 2023. From October 9, 2023, RBI Issue Offices are also accepting ₹2000 banknotes from individuals/entities for deposit into their bank accounts,” the RBI said in a release.
The 19 RBI Issue Offices are located in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, 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 ₹2000 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 ₹2000 banknotes continue to be legal tender.
The ₹2000 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 ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes in circulation at that time.
The objective of introducing ₹2000 banknotes was met once banknotes in other denominations became available in adequate quantities. Therefore, the printing of ₹2000 banknotes was stopped in 2018-19.