Mumbai, March 28 (FN Agency) Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday dedicated to the nation the Varnika ink manufacturing facility in Mysuru, Karnataka, set up by Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (BRBNMPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of RBI. Das also laid the foundation stone of its subsidiary BRBNMPL’s Learning and Development Centre (LDC), which aims to facilitate human resource capacity building in the currency production ecosystem.
BRBNMPL has set up Varnika with an annual ink manufacturing capacity of 1,500 MT to enhance the security of banknotes. While dedicating the manufacturing facility, Das said that a substantial progress has been made towards achieving self-reliance in banknote production ecosystem in India. He emphasised the importance of continuously building capacity, in terms people, process, and technology, R&D and innovation to achieve 100 per cent self-sufficiency in banknote manufacturing in the near future.
“It is a boost to ‘Make in India’ initiative. It ensures that the entire requirement of banknote printing inks is produced in-house,” he said. This unit also manufactures colour shift intaglio ink (CSII) and meets the entire requirements of banknote printing presses in India, which has resulted in cost efficiency and self-sufficiency in banknote ink production. “Further, commissioning of varnish plant for manufacturing different types of varnishes and production of medium and special additives indigenously in-house has helped the currency ecosystem in achieving twofold goals of cost efficiency and reduced import dependency,” the Governor said. This is in line with India’s march towards achieving complete self-reliance to commence manufacturing of all critical and key raw materials used in printing banknotes, Das added. The Governor highlighted the importance of setting up a Learning and Development Centre stating that it will facilitate human resource capacity building in the currency production ecosystem of the country and emerge as a global centre of excellence.
LDC is being established with active collaboration from Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India (SPMCIL) and Bank Note Paper Mill India (BNPMIPL), a joint venture of BRBNMPL and SPMCIL. The centre, which will be governed by BRBNMPL, will act as a forum for robust knowledge dissemination, thus ensuring that the best practices, experiences, and innovations are shared efficiently in a congenial environment to ensure uniformity in banknote production, quality and supply.