On November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced at 8 p.m. that 500 and 1,000 rupee notes would be scrapped. The board of the Reserve Bank of India had taken the decision at 5:30 p.m. the same day. Before the Cabinet met that evening, ministers and officials were asked to switch off their mobile phones.
“When I went to the cabinet meeting, I had no idea such a big move would be announced,” the minister Piyush Goyal said later.