2016 Video of PM Modi Falsely Shared as Announcement of New ₹ 500 and ₹ 2000 Notes in December 2024
A video (here, here and here) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating that the proposal for new ₹ 2,000 notes has been accepted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and the redesigned ₹ 500 and ₹ 2,000 notes will be brought into circulation, is being widely shared on social media. We have also received several requests on our WhatsApp tipline (+91 92470 52470) to verify the authenticity of the viral video. Let’s investigate the claim made in the post.
Claim: PM Narendra Modi stated that redesigned ₹ 500 and ₹ 2,000 notes will be brought into circulation in December 2024.
Fact: This video is from 08 November 2016, in which PM Modi announced the demonetization of ₹ 500 and ₹ 1,000 notes, stating that redesigned ₹ 500 and ₹ 2,000 notes will be introduced into circulation. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
A reverse image search of the visuals from the viral video led us to the original live-streamed video on the official YouTube channel of Narendra Modi, dated 08 November 2016. The same video was uploaded to the YouTube channels of several media outlets. In this video, Prime Minister Modi addresses the nation, announcing that, starting at midnight on 08 November 2016, ₹ 500 and ₹ 1,000 notes would cease to be legal tender.
At the 32:12 timestamp of the video, Modi also states that the proposal for a new ₹ 2,000 note had been accepted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and redesigned ₹ 500 and ₹ 2,000 notes would soon be brought into circulation. This specific portion of the video has been clipped and is now being circulated in December 2024 as if it were a recent decision by the Government of India.
It is important to note that the ₹ 2,000 note introduced in November 2016 was withdrawn from circulation in May 2023. According to an RBI press release dated 02 December 2024, 98.08% of Rs 2,000 notes have been returned, leaving banknotes worth ₹6,839 crore still in circulation. The RBI also clarified that ₹ 2,000 notes continue to remain legal tender. Furthermore, on 25 November 2024, the Ministry of Finance informed Parliament that the facility for exchanging ₹ 2,000 banknotes is available at the 19 Issue Offices of the Reserve Bank. These offices are also accepting ₹ 2,000 banknotes from individuals and entities for deposit into their bank accounts. Additionally, the public can send ₹ 2,000 banknotes via India Post from any post office within the country to any of the RBI Issue Offices for credit to their bank accounts.
To sum it up, a 2016 video of Prime Minister Modi during the announcement of demonetization has been falsely shared as a recent video of him announcing new ₹ 500 and ₹ 2,000 notes.