Cash shortage to end by mid-Jan: Kant

Cash shortages following the demonetisation of high value currency notes will end by mid- January, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said on Friday. Disruption in the economy was inevitable after this step, taken as India aspires to have become a $10 trillion economy, said a statement by industry body Ficci, quoting Kant.

He heads the high-level committee set up the government to identify all possible modes of digital payments across sectors as it pushes on with its drive towards a cashless economy. "The committee is well on its way towards establishing and monitoring an implementation framework with strict timelines to ensure that nearly 80 per cent of the transactions in India move to the digital-only platform," Kant said.