Large-scale benefits of demonetisation are already visible, regardless of what critics had predicted, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday. “There has been significant increase in indirect taxes in all segments,” he said. “What is in banks has an identifiable impact on tax collection, which is already visible.”

Jaitley again assured the public that after the December 30 deadline to deposit the scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, the state of things will be better than they were in the past six weeks. “Remonetisation has advanced, and there was not a single incident of unrest reported,” he claimed, adding that the Reserve Bank of India had a large amount of cash available. “A major part of the deposited currency has been replaced, and more [of the newly-issued] Rs 500 notes will be brought into circulation soon.”

Moreover, Jaitley said that till November 30, central indirect taxes saw a 26.2% rise, including a 43.5% increase in excise duty, 25.7% in service tax and 5.6% in custom duty. The net increase in direct taxes was 13.6%, the Union minister said, adding that gross direct tax collections grew at a rate of 14.4% as compared to 8.3% last year.

“We are extremely grateful to the people of India who supported the demonetisation move,” the finance minister said.

While announcing the Centre’s currency ban decision, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given citizens till Friday, December 30, to deposit the scrapped currency. Between November 8 and December 10, banks had collected Rs 12.44 lakh crore in demonetised notes, while Rs 4.61 lakh crore had been issued in new currency, the RBI had said on December 13. The central bank has not announced the latest figures yet.