Cash crunch: Now, Indian Air Force pressed into service to deliver you new notes

Generally used to transport troops and tanks, the Indian Air Force has deployed its C-17 Globemaster heavylift and C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft for ferrying new notes, and so far they have lifted 280 tonnes of new currency to different corners of the country.

"To ease the currency crunch and increase the cash flow, IAF planes have supplied 280 tonnes of new currency notes to different places of the country," IAF sources said. The government has pressed these planes into action as it wants to hasten the supply of these currency bills from printing centres in Dewas near Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Nashik in Maharashtra, Mysore in Karnataka and Salboni in West Bengal.

The heavy transport aircraft also help in reducing the time taken to ferry the notes without requiring halting for fuel and other logistics requirements.

The notes are delivered to banking officials at various regional centres where they take delivery and distribute it amongst the cities and banks in that area. IAF sources said: "Helicopters were already used for transporting cash to some remote areas of the Northeast. But the use of transport aircraft is a new thing."

The IAF uses its helicopters to transport money to cities in Northeast which are difficult to be accessed through land routes and also in some areas in the Naxal-dominated regions.