The volume of notes in circulation continued to increase till November 8, 2016 when the Government of India notifi ed that banknotes of `500 and `1000 denominations of the existing series issued by the Reserve Bank of India till then (henceforth, specifi ed bank notes), shall cease to be legal tender with effect from November 9, 2016 (also termed as demonetisation). Simultaneously, a new series (Mahatma Gandhi New Series) of banknotes of a different size and design, highlighting the cultural heritage and scientifi c achievements of the country, was introduced. In view of the withdrawal of legal tender character of nearly 86 per cent of value of notes in circulation on November 8, 2016, the focus of the Reserve Bank subsequently shifted to making available banknotes generated from printing presses to currency chests and from there to bank branches and ATMs in the shortest possible time. This process was facilitated by air lifting of notes as also direct remittances from the presses to currency chests wherever feasible and adopting a hub and spoke model of distribution. As a result, during a short span from November 9 to December 31, 2016, the Reserve Bank pumped in 23.8 billion pieces of bank notes into circulation aggregating `5,540 billion in value. The pace of remonetisation continued ceaselessly thereafter also and the notes in circulation (NiC) as on March 31, 2017 increased close to 74 per cent of the NiC prevailing on November 4, 2016. Sustained efforts were made towards indigenisation of banknotes production along with enhanced security features during the year. The Bank Note Paper Mill at Mysuru started commercial production. Efforts towards a greenfi eld project for production of security inks were also undertaken.