In 2016, these 2 States accounted for more than 50% of the Fake Notes seized in the country

Two states accounted for more than 50% of the Fake Currency notes seized in India in the year 2016. Maoist affected state like Chhattisgarh and insurgency hit Jammu & Kashmir and North-Eastern states did not report a considerable number of fake note seizures.

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The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in its ‘Crime in India’ report for the year 2016 has included a new table on the seizure of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) by RBI/State Police. The table gives denomination wise fake currency seized by RBI or the State Police. As per the data, Delhi & Gujarat together account for more than 50% of the fake notes seized in the country.

Almost half of the seized fake currency is in Rs 500 denomination
In the year 2016, a total of 2.82 lakh FICN were seized across the country with a total value of Rs 15.92 crore. Out of these notes, close to half the seized notes were of Rs 500 denomination. This includes both the old & new Rs 500 notes. More than 80000 notes of Rs 1000 were seized. A total of 2272 of the new Rs 2000  were seized. There was not a single Rs 2 fake note seized in the year 2016. All of the 196 fake notes of the ‘Rupee 1’ denomination were seized in Karnataka.

Delhi, Gujarat & West Bengal account for 65% of the seized FICN
Of the various states, Delhi leads both in terms of the number of FICN seized and the value of FICN seized in 2016. In Delhi, more than 1.14 lakh FICN were seized in 2016 making up for more than 40% of all the FICN seized in the country. Gujarat accounted for 14% of the FICN seized while West Bengal accounted for about 12%. These are the only 3 states with a share of more than 10% each in both the number and value of FICN seized in 2016. Together, these 3 states make up for more than 65% of both the number and value of FICN seized in 2016.

Of all the states with more than 1 crore population, only Chhattisgarh did not report the seizure of even a single fake note in 2016. This is surprising considering the fact that it is a Maoist affected state and the Government has multiple times in the past raised the issue of fake currency being used by the Maoists. Even in Jammu & Kashmir and the North-Eastern states with high insurgency, the number of FICN seized was negligible compared to the other states like Delhi & Gujarat.

Close to 60% of the fake Rs 2000 notes were seized from Gujarat
Out of the 2272 Rs 2000 fake notes seized in 2016, almost 60% were seized from Gujarat alone. Though the highest number of FICN were seized from Delhi, not a single Rs 2000 fake note was seized from there.  Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka & Telangana are the only states from where more than hundred Rs 2000 notes fake notes were seized in 2016. Of all the Rs 1000 fake notes seized in 2016, more than 65% were seized from the states of Delhi, Gujarat & West Bengal. Similar trend was observed in the Rs 500 fake notes. Of the Rs 100 fake notes, more than 75% were seized from Delhi & Gujarat alone.