The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday said nearly 97.62 per cent of the Rs 2,000 bank notes have returned to the banking system, and only about Rs 8,470 crore worth of the withdrawn notes are still with the public.

On May 19, 2023, the RBI announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 denomination bank notes from circulation.

"The total value of Rs 2000 banknotes in circulation, which was Rs 3.56 lakh crore at the close of business on May 19, 2023, when the withdrawal of Rs 2000 banknotes was announced, has declined to Rs 8,470 crore at the close of business on February 29, 2024," the RBI said in a statement.

Thus, 97.62 per cent of the Rs 2,000 banknotes in circulation as of May 19, 2023, have since been returned, it added.

"The Rs 2,000 banknotes continue to be legal tender," the RBI added.

People can deposit and/or exchange Rs 2,000 bank notes at the 19 RBI offices across the country. People can also send Rs 2,000 bank notes through India Post from any post office to any of the RBI Issue Offices for credit to their bank accounts in India.

Public and entities holding such notes were initially asked to either exchange or deposit them in bank accounts by September 30, 2023. The deadline was later extended to October 7, 2023. Deposit and exchange services at bank branches were discontinued on October 7, 2023.

Starting October 8, 2023, individuals have been provided with the choice of either exchanging the currency or having the equivalent sum credited to their bank accounts at the 19 offices of the RBI.

The 19 RBI offices depositing/exchanging the bank notes are in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna and Thiruvananthapuram.

The Rs 2,000 bank notes were introduced in November 2016, following the demonetisation of the then-prevailing Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 bank notes.