SPMCIL Records Strong Growth

Under the new leadership of Vijay Ranjan Singh, who was appointed its Managing Director last year, Security Printing & Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL) recently released its 2022/23 Annual Report, registering a growth of 20.35% in revenue to Rs 49.18 billion, versus Rs 40.86 billion last year.

The profit before tax (PTB) from continuing operations, meanwhile, increased by over 170%, from Rs 8.63 billion to Rs 8.63 billion. This was due both to an increase in revenue from operations and the writing back of an excess provision of Rs 5.45 billion from the previous year relating to a dispute over VAT, which was settled during the year.

An additional amount of Rs 3.85 billion was received from the Ministry of Finance as an adjustment covering price differences in the rates at which circulating coins were billed in 2018/19 and 2019/2020.

The profit after tax (PAT) for 2022/23 was Rs 17.79 billion compared to Rs 6.70 billion the previous year, an increase of 165.56%.

SPMCIL’s facilities include two banknote printworks (Currency Note Press (CNP), in Nashik and Bank Note Press (BNP) in Dewas, an ink factory (also in Dewas), the Security Paper Mill (SPM) in Narmadapuram and four mints (Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Noida).

It undertook a number of modernisation and capacity augmentation initiatives during the year, including the commissioning of new banknote printing and finishing lines at both its printworks. These have increased annual banknote printing capacity to 12,500 sheets, improved quality and reduced waste. It also commissioned colour medal presses at two of its four mints (Mumbai and Kolkata)

The ink factory developed in-house colour shift ink (CSI) and collaborated with the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre to develop ink taggants, while trial samples of advanced watermarks were developed in-house at the SPM in Narmadapuram.

For sustainable development, the recycling of waste water is done from an in-house combined effluent cum sewage treatment plant (CESTP) at BNP, Dewas. The unit also recycles plywood for manufacturing banknote packing boxes.

In SPM, a zero liquid discharge system is being put in place to minimise fresh water and utilise treated wastewater in various processes. SPM is also repairing and retrofitting the oxidation pond to improve/increase the operation of the system.

Around 40% of banknotes circulated in India are printed by SPMCIL at CNP and BNP. Moving closer to self- reliance in manufacturing all critical raw materials used in their production, SPMCIL printed 8.98 billion banknotes in the year, 12% more than the previous year. Production of banknotes per employee increased to 4.35 million, as against 3.56 million in 2021/22.

On the coin front, it registered an increase of 26.55%, producing 992.22 million units against 784 million units the previous year. However, its coin production capacity is still under- utilised – with only 13% of the total annual capacity in use last year. The decrease in the production of circulating coins in recent years is due to a reduction in the indent from the Reserve Bank of India.

In terms of security printing materials, SPMCIL produced 6,680 metric tonnes (MT) of security paper and 305 metric tons (MT) of security inks.

Trends reported in the report

The report discusses the latest trends from the banknote perspective.

One is central banks’ planned shift from paper notes to more innovative, long-lasting solutions. It refers to superior varnishes and coatings, hybrid substrates, paper/ polymer composites, and pure polymer substrates as some of the potential solutions.

Another is that designs are including more novel optical and covert elements while remaining straightforward, intriguing, and engaging. Future banknote designs will emphasise creativity to foster public trust and encourage banknote authentication.

Also, data analytics are increasingly being used to forecast demand, improve the cash cycle, and assess the effectiveness of counterfeiting due to developments in machine learning and artificial intelligence.