Government approves printing plastic notes

New Delhi, March 17 (IANS) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been authorised to conduct field trials for printing plastic Rs 10 denomination notes which will have a longer life span, Parliament was informed on Friday   "Approval for procurement of plastic substrate and printing of bank notes of Rs 10 denomination on plastic banknote substrates has been conveyed to the RBI," Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.   Substrate denotes the underlying substance or layer on which currency is printed.   The minister said the government had decided to conduct field trials at five locations of the country with plastic banknotes, which are expected to last longer than cotton substrate-based banknotes.