RESERVE BANK of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel told a parliamentary panel on Wednesday that the demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes which were deposited in banks after November 8 are still being counted. Therefore, the RBI could not provide the “exact amount” of the scrapped notes received.

The RBI informed the Standing Committee on Finance, headed by senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily, that it had issued tenders for fresh Currency Verification Processing System (CVPS) machines to speed up the counting.

“Will you be able to complete the counting by May 2019 (when the Narendra Modi government completes its five-year term),” asked Congress member Digvijaya Singh.