The Gandhi Series of banknotes are issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as the legal tender of Indian rupee. The series is so called because the obverse of the banknotes prominently display the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. Since its introduction in 1996, this series replaced all Lion Capital Series banknotes issued before 1996. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced the series in 1996 with ₹10 and ₹500 banknotes.

As of 10 November 2016, the RBI issues banknotes in this series in denominations from ₹5 to ₹100. Printing of five-notes, which had stopped earlier, restarted in 2009. On 8 November 2016, the ₹500 and ₹1000 banknote denominations of this series were demonetised and the new Mahatma Gandhi Series of banknotes were revealed in denominations of ₹500 and ₹2000, intended to replace this series.

Security features

The obverse design of the series was based on this 1946 photograph of Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Pethick-Lawrence.

Details of the photograph.

The following features are included in the notes.^[1]

• Security thread: The notes contain an embedded security thread that can be seen as a vertical straight line when held against a light source. The notes contains the words 'Bharat' in Devanagari and RBI. The ₹1000 denomination contains the number 1000 as well. Older notes, however, are not readable.
• Latent image: When held against the light at an angle of 45 degrees, an inscription of the value of the denomination is seen on the right side of Mahatma Gandhi's image.
• Microlettering: Micro-letters are used to print RBI on ₹10 notes, and the value of the denomination on other notes.
• Intaglio print:

1. An intaglio (raised) shape is present on all denominations other than the ₹10 note to help the visually impaired.
   1. ₹20-Vertical rectangle
   2. ₹50-Square
   3. ₹100-Triangle
   4. ₹500-Circle
   5. ₹1,000-Diamond
2. The image of Mahatma Gandhi, Reserve Bank of India seal, clause of guarantee, Ashoka Pillar emblem and signature of the governor of the Reserve Bank of India are all intaglio prints.

• Fluorescence: The number panels are printed with fluorescent ink.
• Optical fibre: The notes have optical fibres that glow when exposed to ultra-violet light.
• Optically variable ink: Denominations of ₹500 and ₹1000 are printed with ink that changes color with the angle of placement to light.
• See-through registration device – A floral design (later issues now have the corresponding denomination) printed on the front and the back of the note coincides and perfectly overlap each other when viewed against a light source.
• EURion constellation – A pattern of symbols found on the banknote helps software detect the presence of a banknote in a digital image so that it can prevent its reproduction with devices such as color photocopiers.
• Angular lines: A series of lines placed on both the left and right side of the ₹100, ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes. They are only featured on the 2015 series notes, and are utilised to help those with visual impairments in identifying the notes.
• Novel numbering: A set of six digit serial numbers that increase in size from left to right. Issued for the 2015 and 2016 series ₹20, ₹50, ₹100, ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes.

Banknotes

Mahatma Gandhi Series[2]
Image		Value	Dimensions (millimetres)	Main colour	Description			Date of
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse	Watermark	Issue	Withdrawal
		₹5	117 × 63 mm	Green	Mahatma Gandhi	Agriculture endeavour	Mahatma Gandhi	2002 / 2011	Current
		₹10	137 × 63 mm	Orange and violet		Indian rhinoceros, Indian elephant, and Bengal tiger		1996 / 2017	Current
		₹20	147 × 63 mm	Red-orange		Mount Harriet		2001 / 2018	Current
		₹50	147 × 73 mm	Lilac and Violet		Old Parliament House		1997 / 2017	Current
		₹100	157 × 73 mm	Blue and green at centre, brown and purple at two sides		Kangchenjunga		1996 / 2017	Current
		₹500	167 × 73 mm	Orange and Yellow		Gyarah Murti		2000 / 2016	8 November 2016
		₹1000	177 × 73 mm	Amber-Red		Economy of India		2000 / 2016	8 November 2016
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixel per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

Languages

Each banknote has its amount written in 17 languages. On the obverse, the denomination is written in Hindi and English. On the reverse is a language panel which displays the denomination of the note in 15 of the 22 official languages of India. The languages are displayed in alphabetical order. Languages included on the panel are Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.