The year 2021 marks 160 years of the enactment of the Paper Currency Act which introduced official paper currency in India. The function of issuing paper money is today carried out by the Reserve Bank of India which is the sole issuer of banknotes in the country. India’s paper money story, however, is much older. It dates back to around the 1770s when private banks commenced issuing banknotes which circulated as money. Today, paper notes are fast yielding space to digital money; however, they still touch the lives of virtually every person. At our Online Talk #PromisesToPay, author and former central banker Bazil Shaikh provides a broad-brush history of paper money in India.

Talk link will be shared a couple of hours before the event.

About the speaker

Bazil Shaikh is an author and former central banker who has worked in areas spanning trade, exchange rate management, rural development and governance amongst others. He headed the team which conceived, researched and curated the RBI Monetary Museum, Mumbai. He has authored several websites and publications, notably ‘The Paper and the Promise’, and ‘Mint Road Milestones: RBI at 75’. His latest publication titled ‘The Conjuror’s Trick: An Interpretive History of Paper Money in India’ was released recently in February, 2021.