For India polymer notes, bidders certify no animal tallow, firewalls against China, Pakistan

For India polymer notes, bidders certify no animal tallow, firewalls against China, Pakistan Among bidders is Indian firm in partnership with global banknote major De La Rue.

Key points

• 4 min read New Delhi Aug 31, 2026 05: 20 AM IST.
• Responding to the global Expression of Interest (EOI) issued by Reserve Bank of India subsidiary Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (P) Ltd (BRBNMPL).
• The firm is expanding its footprint out of Vietnam and, according to industry sources, has additionally bid for the BRBNMPL EOI. © The Indian Express Pvt Ltd.
• In its EOI documents, the BRBNMPL has underlined an "immediate" requirement and indicated an approximate requirement for 68, 000 reams of polymer substrate for printing Indian banknotes.
• Ritu Sarin is Contributing Editor (Investigations) at The Indian Express group.

Given the sensitivity of future supplies of polymer banknotes, the firms have been produced to fill an integrity pact; a confidentiality contract. (File Photo).

Moving a step closer to the introduction of low-denomination plastic banknotes in the country, Indian and foreign firms have bid for the supply of polymer substrate sheets with inbuilt security features.

Responding to the global Expression of Interest (EOI) issued by Reserve Bank of India subsidiary Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (P) Ltd (BRBNMPL). It set an August 18 deadline, at least two foreign polymer currency manufacturers and an Indian substrate manufacturer in partnership with UK banknote manufacturer De La Rue have placed their bids, The Indian Express has learnt.

Notably, the bidders have additionally had to certify that their polymer substrate will not contain any animal tallow content or its DNA for supplies to the BRBNMPL. Controversies over the presence of animal tallow in banknotes in countries like the UK is remarked to be one of the reasons for the RBI's hesitation over the introduction of polymer currency in India.

In its EOI documents, the BRBNMPL has underlined an "immediate" requirement and indicated an approximate requirement for 68, 000 reams of polymer substrate for printing Indian banknotes. Each ream should consist of 500 sheets of polymer film with samples to be provided with the bids.

In practice, the samples will be tested in various climatic zones and those discovered eligible will be allowed to apply for the final BRBNMPL tender. In a corrigendum published before the deadline, the BRBNMPL clarified that bidders were not required to provide proof of their financial standing at this "qualifying" stage.

It is learnt that in the running for the polymer substrate EOI is Cosmo First, the largest Indian exporter of BOPP (biaxially oriented polypropylene) and a major supplier to De la Rue. The world's largest banknote supplier, the UK-headquartered De La Rue claims to have supported a number of countries create the transition to the polymer option which it states is cleaner, greener, more secure and durable.

Those in the know say Cosmo First has listed the currency major as its technical partner'' which will provide security features in its polymer substrate as required by BRBNMPL.

Notably, the other foreign major which is learnt to have bid is Australia-based CCL Secure, another pioneer in polymer banknote supplies. CCL Secure at present supplies polymer solutions to 40 central banks. It flags features to prevent counterfeiting and claims that the banknotes last six times longer than cotton-based currency paper.

In practice, the CCL Secure website states it offers solutions to countries to employ a combination of polymer based and conventional currency paper sourced from cotton pulp. This is what the RBI is remarked to be at present proposing for India, with polymer banknotes being introduced initially in Rs 10 and Rs 20 denominations.

Vietnam was among the countries importing polymer substrate from CCL Secure, but three years ago a private Hanoi-based firm, Q&T Hi-tech Polymer Business Limited, began supplying bank notes domestically, maintaining there is a 78% lifecycle savings over cotton paper currency. The firm is expanding its footprint out of Vietnam and, according to industry sources, has additionally bid for the BRBNMPL EOI. © The Indian Express Pvt Ltd.

Ritu Sarin is Contributing Editor (Investigations) at The Indian Express group. Her areas of specialisation include internal security, funds laundering and corruption. Sarin is one of India's most renowned reporters and has a career in journalism of over four decades. She is a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) since 1999 and since early 2023, a member of its Board of Directors. She has additionally been a founder member of the ICIJ Network Committee (INC). She has, to commence with, alone, and afterwards led teams which have worked on ICIJ's Offshore Leaks, Swiss Leaks, the Pulitzer Prize winning Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, Implant Files, Fincen Files, Pandora Papers, the Uber Files and Deforestation Inc. She has conducted investigative journalism workshops and addressed investigative journalism conferences with a specialisation on collaborative journalism in a number of countries.

In short, for India polymer notes, bidders certify no animal tallow, firewalls against China, is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.