Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India

The minting of coins and printing of currencies were done under the control and supervision of the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Economic affairs. It was in the year 2000 where the Ministry of Economic Affairs, in their expenditure report explained that the mints and presses were a huge cost to the government and were over staffed in terms of the needs at that point of time. 

The commission thoroughly studied the operations of the Four mints at Mumbai, Calcutta, Noida and Hyderabad, Two Currency Note Presses at Nasik and Dewas, Two Security Printing Presses at Nasik and Hyderabad and the Security Paper Mill at Hoshangabad, nine units

There were 9 key recommendations given in the report which are: 

1. Substantial downsizing of the work force in all the units except the Noida Mint.  
2. A need for improving managerial efficiency, freeing the units from the usual government procedures, which are often time consuming, be it in making appointments, floating of tenders etc.
3. As the current levels of production in these eight units (except Noida Mint) are far below the installed capacities, there is no case for payment of incentives or overtime allowances. This should be stopped.
4. As the present installed capacity of the four bank note presses is around 15 billion notes, as against the indent of only 10 billion notes, the production in the three lines which are yet to modernised at Dewas could be phased out.
5. Transfer the two units at Dewas and Nasik to the control of Bhartiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Nigam, a subsidiary of Reserve Bank of India, responsible for printing the currencies.  
6. The Security Paper Mill at Hoshangabad should also be taken up and managed by the Bhartiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Nigam
7. Through a proper separation of the ‘production-mix’ at the Nasik and Hyderabad Security Printing Presses, the unit at Hyderabad could be dedicated exclusively for meeting the requirements of the Department of Posts, and the management of the unit transferred to that Department of Post.
8. The system of payments by the RBI would need to be changed to reflect correctly the levels of efficiency and productivity of the mints and presses.
9. Corporatisation 

Taking the 9th Recommendation forward and after completing the legal formalities 'Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited' (SPMCIL) was set up in 2006 and these units were transferred to SPMCIL. 

This has allowed improvement in the efficiency of the units and opening of other avenues that would not have been possible if these units remained in the direct control of the Ministries. 

Currently SPMCIL has 29 clients to which it carters to name a few, 

Sl. No.	Client	Product
1	Reserve Bank of India	Currency and Coin
2	Ministry of External Affairs	Passports
3	Department of Post	Stamps, Postcard
4	Election Commission	Election Stationaries
5	Ministry of Home Affairs	Medals and Security seal
6	Ministry of Defence	Medals, ID cards
7	Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam	Gold Refining + Manufacturing Gold Pendants

Source: dea.gov.in/sites/default/files/3rdReportEMC.pdf  

Complete Client list of SPMCIL : spmcil.com/Interface/clientslider.aspx