An Indian resident holds 500 and 1000 INR notes in New Delhi on November 8, 2016. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced late November 8 that 500 and 1,000 ($15) rupee notes will be withdrawn from financial circulation from midnight, in a bid to tackle corruption. "To break the grip of corruption and black money, we have decided that the 500 and 1,000 rupee currency notes presently in use will no longer be legal tender from midnight ie 8 November, 2016," Modi said in a special televised address to the nation.

KUWAIT: The Indian Embassy in Kuwait said in a press release yesterday that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has offered some relief to non-resident Indians (NRIs) for exchanging old currency notes. All NRIs who were abroad from Nov 9, 2016 to Dec 30, 2016 can avail of this facility till June 30, 2017.

The limit for NRIs is 25,000 rupees per person. Indians living abroad can avail of this facility on submission of ID proof like the Aadhaar card or permanent account number (PAN). No representations for depositing old notes on behalf of any third party will be accepted. This facility is available at RBI branches in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Nagpur, the statement added.