What are the alternative definitions of money supply in India?
or
Describe alternative measures of money supply as used by RBI in India.

Measures of money supply (money stock). In India there are four concepts of money supply. Reserve Bank of India uses four alternative measures of money supply called as M₁, M₂, M₃, and M₄. Each measure is briefly explained below. Among these measures, M₁ is the most commonly used measure of money supply because its components are regarded as most liquid assets.
(i) M₁ = C + DD + OD. Here C denotes currency (paper money and coins) held by public, DD stands for demand deposits in banks (inter-bank deposits are not included) and OD stands for other deposits with RBI. Demand deposits are deposits which can be withdrawn at any time on demand by account holders. Current account deposits are included in demand deposits. But savings account deposits are not included in DD because certain conditions are imposed on amount of withdrawal and number of withdrawals. OD stands for other deposits with the RBI which includes demand deposits of Public Financial Institutions (like Industrial Finance Corporation), demand deposits of foreign central banks and international financial institutions (like IMF).
(ii) M₂ = M₁ (detailed above) + Savings deposits with Post Office Saving Banks. (This is a broader concept of money supply as compared to M₁).
(iii)    M₃ = M₁ + Net Time-deposits with Commercial Banks (Data of 2003–2004 is shown below). (This is also a broader concept of money supply as compared to M₁).
(iv)    M₄ = M₃ + Total deposits with Post Office Saving Organisation (excluding NSC).
(This is still broader – broader than even M₃).
In fact, a great deal of debate is still going on as to what constitutes money supply. Savings deposits of post offices are not a part of money supply because they do not serve as medium of exchange due to lack of cheque facility. Similarly, fixed deposits in commercial banks is not counted as money. M₁ and M₂ are known as narrow money whereas M₃ and M₄ are known as broad money. In practice, M₃ is widely used as measure of money supply which is also called aggregate monetary resources of the society. All the above four measures represent different degrees of liquidity, with M₁ being the most liquid and M₄being the least liquid of all. It may be noted that liquidity means ability to convert an asset into money quickly and without loss of value. According to government of India ‘Economic Survey 2004’, the position of M₃ on March 31, 2004 was as under.