Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday renewed his demand for withdrawing Rs 500 banknotes, arguing that eliminating high-denomination cash would help curb corruption, illicit transactions and the influence of money in elections, The Hindu BusinessLine reported.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine

"Currency denominations of Rs 500, Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000 should be scrapped. Only Rs 100 and Rs 200 notes should remain," Naidu said, in remarks reported by India Today and carried by several outlets. The Telugu Desam Party president made the appeal at a press conference in Amaravati, a day after the tenth anniversary of the Union government's 2016 demonetisation decision.

Source: India Today via News89

Naidu said he had raised the proposal with Prime Minister Narendra Modi before, including in a digital currency report, and intended to keep pressing for changes to the currency system. Reports noted he first made the proposal in 2017 and revived it in 2025.

The remarks amounted to a policy recommendation, not an announcement of any decision by the Union government or the Reserve Bank of India. There has been no announced RBI programme to withdraw the current Rs 500 banknote, which remains legal tender and the highest denomination in routine circulation.

For context, the 2016 exercise invalidated the then-existing Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, while the RBI's 2023 withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes from circulation did not remove their legal tender status. Naidu did not set out a timetable or an exchange mechanism for his proposal.

Naidu was addressing the press conference on the NDA alliance's performance in Andhra Pradesh municipal and parishad polls, where he said the alliance secured 58.90 per cent of the votes with a strike rate of 94 per cent, The Hindu BusinessLine reported.