New Delhi, Nov 20 (IANS) In a bid to check proliferation of counterfeit currency notes and make bank notes last longer, India's central bank will introduce 100 crore polymer notes of Rs.10 denomination on a trial basis soon, it said Friday.

'To increase the life of bank notes, the government has decided to introduce one billion (100 crore) pieces of polymer bank notes in Rs.10 denomination on trial basis,' said Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena in Lok Sabha.

'Polymer notes are being introduced where the incidence of counterfeiting is negligible,' Meena added.

He said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has initiated the process to purchase polymer notes.

According to a finance ministry official, the RBI would come out with polymer bank notes of higher denomination after the trial.

While polymer in popular usage suggests plastic, the term actually refers to a large class of natural and synthetic materials with a variety of properties.

Some of the features of the polymer currency notes will be:

- Greater life span compared to the regular notes

- Cleaner than paper notes

- Minimise counterfeiting of notes

Polymer notes were first introduced in Australia. Other countries to have introduced plastic notes include Nepal, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Bermuda, Brunei and Vietnam.