Mayur Shetty, TNN | Mar 24, 2014, 08.08PM IST
MUMBAI:Reserve Bank of India has forward a proposal by a Mumbai-based engineer to mint coins in industrial grade plastics to the finance ministry for consideration.
Ravindra A Palwankar an engineer with Air India had submitted a proposal to RBI which was forwarded by the central bank to the finance ministry.
Governments across the world moving towards issuing coins in the nature of metal token with assigned value rather than the historical practice of matching the face value with metal value. As a result, the metal content in the coins no longer reflect the coin's value.
According to Ravindra A. Palwankar an engineer with Air India the coins will save the government up to Rs 200 crore annually in minting expenses. "The present system of minting coins cost Rs.375 crores approximately to the exchequer annually" said Palwankar. He points out that this is largely because of the value of metal.
Some bankers feel that plastics might not have the same durability as metal coins which can remain in circulation for 30-40 years. They are also unsure whether there could be enough cost effective security features built into plastic coins to prevent counterfeiting. At present there is not much of counterfeiting in coins because the high cost of metal and minting does not make it cost-effective for fraudsters.
"I have suggested industrial grade plastics wich are used in automobiles and kitchen equipment such handles of frying pan. These can withstand extreme temperatures ranging from minus 50 to 250 degrees and can last for hundreds of years" said Palwankar. He added that modern technology allows us to incorporate fluorescent holographic images that can prevent counterfeiting.
Palwankar adds that besides introducing coins in plastic the government could also incorporate social messages on the coins.
Ravindra A Palwankar an engineer with Air India had submitted a proposal to RBI which was forwarded by the central bank to the finance ministry.
Governments across the world moving towards issuing coins in the nature of metal token with assigned value rather than the historical practice of matching the face value with metal value. As a result, the metal content in the coins no longer reflect the coin's value.
According to Ravindra A. Palwankar an engineer with Air India the coins will save the government up to Rs 200 crore annually in minting expenses. "The present system of minting coins cost Rs.375 crores approximately to the exchequer annually" said Palwankar. He points out that this is largely because of the value of metal.
Some bankers feel that plastics might not have the same durability as metal coins which can remain in circulation for 30-40 years. They are also unsure whether there could be enough cost effective security features built into plastic coins to prevent counterfeiting. At present there is not much of counterfeiting in coins because the high cost of metal and minting does not make it cost-effective for fraudsters.
"I have suggested industrial grade plastics wich are used in automobiles and kitchen equipment such handles of frying pan. These can withstand extreme temperatures ranging from minus 50 to 250 degrees and can last for hundreds of years" said Palwankar. He added that modern technology allows us to incorporate fluorescent holographic images that can prevent counterfeiting.
Palwankar adds that besides introducing coins in plastic the government could also incorporate social messages on the coins.
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