Plastic ₹10 and ₹20 Notes: What Is Approved, When They Come, and What Is Fake

On 1 November 2026, a run of headlines said the Reserve Bank of India will introduce plastic ₹10 and ₹20 notes "from April 1". People searched for it for more than a day. The short answer: a polymer note trial has been approved and RBI is aiming for the start of the next financial year, but no official notice fixes a date, no paper note is being withdrawn, and nothing official mentions plastic notes of any other value. Here is what each official document says.

Written on 2 November 2026. Every statement below is checked against the government's written reply in the Lok Sabha, RBI's transcripts of its own press conferences, the tender notice of RBI's printing subsidiary, PIB Fact Check and RBI's Annual Report for 2025-26. If RBI announces a date, it will be in a press release on rbi.org.in, and this page will be updated.

What the government told Parliament

The clearest statement is the Finance Ministry's written answer to Lok Sabha unstarred question 1335, answered on 27 July 2026 by the Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary. In plain words, it says four things:

• The approval. RBI, on its Central Board's recommendation, proposed one billion pieces each of ₹10 and ₹20 polymer notes for field trials, and regular issue of polymer notes in these two values once the trials succeed. The government approved the proposal. One billion is 100 crore.
• Why. RBI told the government that, as per international studies, polymer notes last significantly longer than paper notes.
• Digital payments. The introduction is in a preliminary phase, and any effect on digital payments can be judged only after regular issue. Cash and digital payments are complementary.
• Paper stays. According to RBI, polymer notes are to be issued along with paper notes, and there is no proposal to replace paper currency with polymer.

The reply gives no date and names no cities.

What RBI's Governor said about timing

RBI publishes edited transcripts of its post-policy press conferences. Two of them cover polymer notes.

• 5 June 2026. Asked about plastic notes, Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the proposal was under consideration, that there was "some truth" in the reports but no decision, and that it was at a preliminary stage.
• 5 August 2026, after the approval. He gave two purposes: durability, which matters most for low-value notes because they change hands faster and wear out sooner, and more printing capacity as the economy's needs grow. He said polymer notes have been used for more than 30 years in other countries and last three to four times as long as paper. He called it a pilot, to be tested in Indian conditions before any decision to scale it up, and said RBI was targeting circulation at the beginning of the next financial year, if everything goes as per plan.

The next financial year begins on 1 April 2027. That is where "April 1" comes from. It is a target that depends on the trial going to plan, not a date in any RBI notice.

What is already happening: the polymer tender

Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran, RBI's wholly owned note-printing company, issued a global expression of interest on 17 July 2026 (EOI No. EOI/04/CO/2026-27) for opacified polymer substrate sheets with security features. The notice says:

• The indicative requirement is 68,000 reams, 34,000 for each denomination, with 500 sheets in a ream.
• The quantity is for the immediate requirement. Larger purchases across denominations would follow only once the field trials succeed.
• The last date for bids was 18 August 2026. Detailed specifications go only to bidders who qualify, hold security clearance, and whose sample sheet passes a test for the absence of animal tallow or animal DNA. Bidders must also certify that the substrate contains no animal tallow.

On 13 August 2026, Deputy Governor Shirish Chandra Murmu told a cash-management forum organised by Bank Indonesia that RBI is exploring ways to extend the life of notes, including surface coatings and polymer notes for lower denominations.

Why ₹10 and ₹20: the numbers

RBI's Annual Report for 2025-26 shows why the trial starts at the bottom of the range. Low-value notes are a large share of all notes by number but a tiny share by value, and they wear out fast.

The ₹10 note is the second most common note in India after the ₹500. A trial of 100 crore notes is small against the 2,756.5 crore ₹10 notes in use, but it is more than a fifth of the ₹10 notes RBI ordered in all of 2025-26, and half the ₹20 notes. RBI spent ₹4,875.2 crore on security printing in 2025-26, so a note that lasts three or four times as long matters to its costs. The report adds that soiled-note destruction in 2025-26 was lower than the year before because shredding and briquetting systems were being replaced, so the drop is not a sign that notes are lasting longer.

This has been announced before

Plastic notes are not a new idea in India. PIB's releases of the time show:

• 13 December 2012. The Finance Minister told the Rajya Sabha that one billion ₹10 notes on polymer would be introduced on a field-trial basis in five cities, mainly to make notes last longer, not to fight counterfeiting.
• 12 March 2013. The five cities were named: Kochi, Mysore, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar and Shimla, chosen for different climates. RBI said polymer could also help against counterfeiting.
• 28 November 2014. The government repeated the plan in the Lok Sabha and said any decision to replace notes would depend on the trial.

That trial did not lead to polymer notes in circulation, and in June 2026 the Governor described the new proposal as still under consideration. The 2026 approval covers two values, ₹10 and ₹20, and no cities have been named for it.

The fake parts

• "Paper notes will be withdrawn." False. The government's reply says there is no proposal to replace paper notes. On 9 June 2026 PIB Fact Check called posts saying paper notes would be replaced by plastic ones from 30 June 2026 fake, citing RBI.
• "A ₹1,000 plastic note is coming." Not in any official document. The approval, the Governor's remarks and the printing tender all concern ₹10 and ₹20 only.
• "Plastic notes start on 1 April." Missing context. RBI's target is the beginning of the next financial year, if the pilot goes to plan. No RBI notification has fixed a date.

What it means for you

• Nothing changes now. Keep using and accepting your paper ₹10 and ₹20 notes. Polymer notes, when they come, are to circulate alongside them.
• Do not pay anyone to "exchange" notes. No exchange of ₹10 or ₹20 notes has been announced. Any message asking you to swap old notes, share bank details or pay a fee to get new notes is a fraud.
• Check currency news at the source. RBI announces new notes by press release on rbi.org.in, and its Indian Currency microsite, indiancurrency.rbi.org.in, shows the design and security features of every note. Suspicious claims about the government can be sent to PIB Fact Check on WhatsApp at +91 87997 11259 or by email to factcheck@pib.gov.in.
• Counterfeits. Fakes of low-value notes are rare. Banks found 133 fake ₹10 notes and 373 fake ₹20 notes in 2025-26, against 1,41,907 fake ₹500 notes, according to RBI.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are plastic ₹10 and ₹20 notes coming from 1 April? RBI is targeting the beginning of the next financial year, which starts on 1 April 2027, if everything goes as per plan. That is the Governor's stated target for a pilot, not a date fixed by any RBI notification.

Will my paper ₹10 and ₹20 notes stop working? No. According to RBI, polymer notes are to be issued along with paper notes, and there is no proposal to replace paper currency.

Is RBI launching a ₹1,000 plastic note? No official document mentions one. The approval in Parliament, the Governor's remarks and the printing tender all cover only ₹10 and ₹20 notes.

How many plastic notes will be issued? The government approved one billion, or 100 crore, of each of ₹10 and ₹20 for field trials. Regular issue would follow only if the trials succeed.

Why is RBI moving to polymer notes? To make low-value notes last longer and to add printing capacity. The Governor said polymer notes last three to four times as long as paper ones.

In which cities will the trial run? No cities have been named for the 2026 trial. The cities listed in 2013, for an earlier plan that did not go ahead, were Kochi, Mysore, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar and Shimla.

Will polymer notes contain animal fat? RBI's printing subsidiary requires bidders to certify that the substrate contains no animal tallow, and samples are tested for animal tallow and DNA before a bidder can go further.