₹27.9 trillion on 9 April, a figure published by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This surge was probably part of what an RBI report described as a “covid-19 induced dash for cash", with people in pandemic-ravaged cities scurrying for ATM machines to either use or stash away large sums of it.
While disruptions caused by local lockdowns may have been behind this display of the ‘precautionary motive’, as observed last year, anecdotal accounts over the past three weeks also point to felt or foreseen requirements of currency for medical emergencies.
Given our national push for online transactions in this digital age, the increased uptake of bank notes would seem like a slide-back.