The Reserve Bank of India’s note printing subsidiary invited international tenders on Friday for polymer substrate sheets with built-in security elements. These sheets will be used to produce Indian currency at its facilities and those of the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India. Bids must be submitted by August 18, 2026, according to Bloomberg News. The request follows recent remarks by RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra indicating that polymer notes remain under early review. The tender represents the most concrete move so far toward introducing plastic currency that could replace certain paper notes. The initial order covers roughly 68,000 reams of biaxially oriented polypropylene substrate divided between two denominations, with each ream containing 500 sheets. Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Pvt Ltd stated that successful trials would lead to larger purchases for additional denominations in later tenders. The substrate must include multiple security elements such as a clear window with portrait, metallic numeral, magnetic pseudo thread, shadow image and iridescent pattern. Reports indicate the first polymer notes are expected in the ₹10 and ₹20 denominations and will use specially formulated security ink. The expression of interest imposes strict national security rules, including firewalls separating any operations in China or Pakistan from India-related work, a ban on sourcing materials from those countries, and restrictions on personnel with prior work experience there. Firms from nations sharing a land border with India must register with the DPIIT committee. Both domestic and foreign bidders, including partners and subsidiaries, require at least three years of experience supplying polymer substrate with security features to a central bank or security printer and must offer a minimum of 20,400 reams to qualify.
