Indian currency printed by Chinese firm? AAP takes on Modi government

New Delhi, Aug 13: The AAP government on Monday sought a clarification from the Centre following a report published in a Chinese daily claiming that a company there has been given the licence to print Indian currency. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national spokesperson Raghav Chadha termed the revelation as a “big threat to India’s national security” and “financial sovereignty” and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi why this information was not available in the public domain.

The South China Morning Post, a Chinese financial news publication, has reported that a Chinese state-owned company, China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation, has been contracted to print large quantities of international currencies including that of India. The report states that in 2013, Beijing launched the belt and road plan which involved 60 countries from Asia, Europe and Africa to stimulate economic growth.

The President of the China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation, Liu Guisheng, was quoted as saying that his company has since then “successfully won contracts for currency production projects in a number of countries including Thailand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, India, Brazil and Poland.” The report claims that despite domestic currency demand being at its lowest, China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation has been “functioning at full capacity to deliver on international contracts”. (IANS)