RBI cutting note order may have led to crisis The shortage in fresh ink and supplies, critical to boosting supply of banknotes amid reports of a cash crunch in parts of the country, is being attributed to a decision by the central bank to cut orders to currency presses in June 2017. The decision prompted the presses to stop fresh orders for raw materials, two officials at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on condition of anonymity. The contracts to supply ink and security threads ended in March, said the officials, bringing the printing presses to a near-halt at a time supply isn’t keeping pace with the sudden spurt in demand. Procuring fresh raw materials could take some more time, the people cited above said, extending the current cash shortage, estimated by former RBI deputy governor R. Gandhi at nearly Rs5 trillion. Based on pre-demonetization trends, currency in circulation should have been close to Rs23 trillion now, compared with Rs18 trillion as on 6 April, Gandhi