Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday said nearly 97.69 percent of the ₹ 2000 denomination bank notes have returned to the banking system, and only ₹ 8,202 crore worth of the withdrawn notes are still with the public.

On May 19, 2023, the RBI announced the withdrawal of ₹ 2,000 denomination bank notes from circulation.

The total value of ₹ 2000 banknotes in circulation, which was ₹ 3.56 lakh crore at the close of business on May 19, 2023, when the withdrawal of ₹ 2000 banknotes was announced, has declined to ₹ 8,202 crore at the close of business on March 29, 2024, the Reserve Bank of India said in a statement.

"Thus, 97.69 percent of the ₹ 2000 banknotes in circulation as of May 19, 2023, has since been returned," it added.

The ₹ 2,000 banknotes continue to be legal tender.

People can deposit and/or exchange ₹ 2000 banknotes at 19 RBI offices across the country. People can also send ₹ 2000 bank notes through India Post from any post office to any of the RBI Issue Offices for credit to their bank accounts in India.

Public and private entities holding such notes were initially asked to either exchange or deposit them in bank accounts by September 30, 2023. The deadline was later extended to October 7, 2023. Deposit and exchange services at bank branches were discontinued on October 7, 2023.

Starting October 8, 2023, individuals have been provided with the choice of either exchanging the currency or having the equivalent sum credited to their bank accounts at the 19 offices of the RBI.

The 19 RBI offices depositing/exchanging the bank notes are in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna and Thiruvananthapuram.

The ₹ 2000 banknotes were introduced in November 2016, following the demonetisation of the then-prevailing ₹ 1,000 and ₹ 500 banknotes.