MUMBAI, May 7: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has awarded the contract to print 3.6 billion currency notes worth Rs 340 crore to nine foreign companies.

This is for the first time that the central bank is importing currency notes through a global tender. Bids had been invited for 2 billion 100 rupee notes and 1.6 billion 500 rupee notes in December last.

"With the import of the currency notes, the country's needs will be taken care of till 1998-end, when two new presses at Salboni and Mysore will become fully operational," Reserve Bank deputy governor RV Gupta said.

The first tranche of imported notes will be released into the system in July.

The apex bank has awarded the contract for 100 rupee notes to a consortium of three companies of the United Kingdom, Thomas de la Rue, Desden Seck Printing Works (a subsidiary of the Bank of England) and Harrison & Sons.

Two companies, Amercian Bank Note Company of the United States and Bundesdruckrei of Germany, have also been awarded the contract.

A consortium consisting of Geisecke and Devrient, Charles Francois Oberthur of France and BA Banknote of Canada along with Canadian Bank Note Company have been awarded the contract to manufacture 1.6 billion pieces of Rs 500 denomination.

It will cost Reserve Bank a little over Rs 340 crore, inclusive of insurance cost and freight (CIF). The cost of import will be marginally cheaper than producing the notes domestically.

According to Gupta, the two new printing presses, being set up at Salboni in West Bengal and Mysore at a cost of Rs 1,650 crore, will produce 5,000 million pieces each per annum. The two security press units at Nashik and Dewas, which are being modernised, print 4,000 million pieces.

In the first phase, the Mysore press is scheduled to produce 250 million pieces of Rs 100 notes and Salboni 700 million pieces of Rs 10 notes.

On floating the global note printing tender, the central bank had received bids from three main consortia, the German G&D consisting of CFO of France and BABN of Canada, the UK team of Thomas De La Rue, Desden Seck Printing Works, Harrison & Sons and the third consortium comprising Bundesdruckerei of Germany, South African Reserve Bank and Bank of Ukraine.

Independent bidders were Nichmen Corporation, Tumbabruk of Finland, Canadian Bank Note and American Bank Note.

The Reserve Bank had earlier rejected the bids of Nichimen Corporation and Tubabruk of Finland for violating tender norms. Nichimen Corporation had purchased the tender documents in its name, but submitted a bid on behalf of Spanish Printing works. The apex bank rejected the bid of Tumbabruk because it insisted that Reserve Bank of India supply the bank note paper for printing the notes.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.