Former Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa was speaking at an event at IIT-Bombay. (File)
Former Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa has said that after demonetisation in 2016, the India Air Force (IAF) transported 625 tonnes of new currency notes to various parts of the country.
The move to scrap the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8, 2016.
"When demonetisation took place, we (IAF) took the currency and brought it to you. If one crore comes in a bag of 20 kg, I do not know how many crores we moved," BS Dhanoa said at an event at IIT-Bombay.
One of the slides in the ex-Air Force chief's presentation showed that as part of internal services, the IAF carried out 33 missions transporting 625 tonnes of treasury consignment after the demonetisation was announced.
At the event, BS Dhanoa also referred to the row over the Rafale deal, saying such controversies slow down defence acquisitions, affecting capabilities of the armed forces.
He also said that had Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman been flying a Rafale instead of a MiG 21 during the India-Pakistan stand-off after the Balakot strike last year, the outcome would have been different.
The Bofors deal too got mired in controversy (during the Rajiv Gandhi government) despite the guns "being good", he noted.