500 Rupees

Mauritius moved to polymer for this denomination as part of a broader regional shift — several small island economies adopted polymer substrate in the 2010s precisely because high humidity and coastal salt air destroy cotton-fibre notes with unusual speed. The practical argument was economic: polymer lasts roughly two to three times longer in tropical circulation, offsetting the higher unit cost.

De La Rue's polymer work for this series uses a clear window integrated into the substrate itself rather than applied as a patch — a distinction that matters for authentication. The colour-shifting ink element targets the higher-denomination forgery risk that the 500-rupee note naturally attracts in a country where that figure represents meaningful daily purchasing power.