India replacing 1- and 2-rupee notes with coins

According to an article in The Economic Times dated 08.12.09, the Reserve Bank of India is replacing 1- and 2-rupee banknotes with coins due to the short life span and high costs of printing small-denomination notes. In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said, "The notes of these denominations have been coinised…The Reserve Bank has informed that in view of the short life span of the lower denominations notes of Re 1, Rs 2, and Rs 5 and the high cost involved in printing and processing of soiled notes of these denominations, the government has decided to discontinue the printing of lower denominations notes," Meena said.