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Indian rupee

Bankotes of the Indian Rupee Coins of the Indian rupee
ISO 4217
Code	INR (numeric: 356)
Subunit	0.01
Unit
Unit	Rupee
Symbol	₹‎
Denominations
Subunit
1⁄100	paisa
Symbol
paisa
Banknotes
Freq. used	₹10, ₹20, ₹50, ₹100, ₹200, ₹500
Rarely used	₹1, ₹2, ₹5, ₹2000
Coins
Freq. used	₹1, ₹2, ₹5, ₹10, ₹20
Rarely used	50
Demographics
Official user(s)	India  Bhutan[1]    Nepal[2]
Unofficial user(s)	Zimbabwe[note 1][3][4]
Issuance
Central bank	Reserve Bank of India[5]
Website	www.rbi.org.in
Printer	Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited[6]
Website	spmcil.com
Mint	India Government Mint[6]
Website	spmcil.com
Valuation
Inflation	6.2% (2020–21)
Source	RBI – Annual Inflation Report
Method	Consumer price index (India)[8]
Pegged by	Bhutanese ngultrum (at par) Nepalese rupee (higher value) [1INR=1.6 Nepalese Rupee][7]

The Indian rupee (symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency in the Republic of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 paise (singular: paisa), though as of 2023, coins of denomination of 1 rupee are the lowest value in use whereas 2000 rupees is the highest. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India. The Reserve Bank manages currency in India and derives its role in currency management on the basis of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

Etymology[edit]

The immediate precursor of the rupee is the rūpiya—the silver coin weighing 178 grains minted in northern India, first by Sher Shah Suri during his brief rule between 1540 and 1545, and later adopted and standardized by the Mughal Empire. The weight remained unchanged well beyond the end of the Mughals until the 20th century.^[9] Though Pāṇini mentions rūpya (रूप्य), it is unclear whether he was referring to coinage.^[10] Arthashastra, written by Chanakya, prime minister to the first Maurya emperor Chandragupta Maurya (c. 340–290 BCE), mentions silver coins as rūpyarūpa. Other types of coins, including gold coins (suvarṇarūpa), copper coins (tāmrarūpa), and lead coins (sīsarūpa), are also mentioned.^[11]

History[edit]

The history of the Indian rupee traces back to ancient India in circa 6th century BCE: ancient India was one of the earliest issuers of coins in the world,^[12] along with the Chinese wen and Lydian staters.^[13]

Arthashastra, written by Chanakya, prime minister to the first Maurya emperor Chandragupta Maurya (c. 340–290 BCE), mentions silver coins as rūpyarūpa, other types including gold coins (suvarṇarūpa), copper coins (tamrarūpa) and lead coins (sīsarūpa) are mentioned. Rūpa means ‘form’ or ‘shape’; for example, in the word rūpyarūpa: rūpya ‘wrought silver’ and rūpa ‘form’.^[14]

The Gupta Empire produced large numbers of silver coins clearly influenced by those of the earlier Western Satraps by Chandragupta II.^[15] The silver Rūpaka (Sanskrit: रूपक) coins were weighed approximately 20 ratis (2.2678g).^[16]

In the intermediate times there was no fixed monetary system as reported by the Da Tang Xi Yu Ji.^[17]

During his five-year rule from 1540 to 1545, Sultan Sher Shah Suri issued a coin of silver, weighing 178 grains (or 11.53 grams), which was also termed the rupiya.^[18][19] During Babur’s time, the brass to silver exchange ratio was roughly 50:2.^[20] The silver coin remained in use during the Mughal period, Maratha era as well as in British India.^[21] Among the earliest issues of paper rupees include; the Bank of Hindustan (1770–1832), the General Bank of Bengal and Bihar (1773–1775, established by Warren Hastings), and the Bengal Bank (1784–91).^{[citation needed]}

1800s[edit]

Indian silver rupee value (1820 –1900)[22]
Year	Exchange rate (pence per rupee)	Melt value (pence per rupee)
1850	24.3	22.7
1851	24.1	22.7
1852	23.9	22.5
1853	24.1	22.8
1854	23.1	22.8
1855	24.2	22.8
1856	24.2	22.8
1857	24.6	22.9
1858	25.7	22.8
1859	26.0	23.0
1860	26.0	22.9
1861	23.9	22.6
1862	23.9	22.8
1863	23.9	22.8
1864	23.9	22.8
1865	23.8	22.7
1866	23.1	22.7
1867	23.2	22.5
1868	23.2	22.5
1869	23.3	22.5
1870	22.5	22.5
1871	23.1	22.5
1872	22.7	22.4
1873	22.3	22.0
1874	22.1	21.6
1875	21.6	21.1
1876	20.5	19.6
1877	20.8	20.4
1878	19.8	19.5
1879	20.0	19.0
1880	19.9	19.4
1881	19.9	19.2
1882	19.5	19.3
1883	19.5	18.7
1884	19.3	18.8
1885	18.2	18.0
1886	17.4	16.8
1887	16.9	16.6
1888	16.4	15.9
1889	16.5	15.8
1890	18.0	17.7
1891	16.7	16.7
1892	15.0	14.8
1893	14.5	13.2
1894	13.1	10.7
1895	13.6	11.1
1896	14.4	11.5
1897	15.3	10.2
1898	16.0	10.0
1899	16.0	10.2
1900	16.0	10.4

Historically, the rupee was a silver coin. This had severe consequences in the nineteenth century when the strongest economies in the world were on the gold standard (that is, paper linked to gold). The discovery of large quantities of silver in the United States and several European colonies caused the panic of 1873 which resulted in a decline in the value of silver relative to gold, devaluing India’s standard currency. This event was known as «the fall of the rupee.» In Britain the Long Depression resulted in bankruptcies, escalating unemployment, a halt in public works, and a major trade slump that lasted until 1897.^[23]

India was unaffected by the imperial order-in-council of 1825, which attempted to introduce British sterling coinage to the British colonies. India, at that time, was controlled by the British East India Company. The silver rupee coin continued as the currency of India through the British Raj and beyond. In 1835, British India adopted a mono-metallic silver standard based on the rupee coin; this decision was influenced by a letter written by Lord Liverpool in 1805 extolling the virtues of mono-metallism.

Following the First war of Independence in 1857, the British government took direct control of India. From 1851, gold sovereigns were produced en masse at the Royal Mint in Sydney. In an 1864 attempt to make the British gold sovereign the «imperial coin», the treasuries in Bombay and Calcutta were instructed to receive (but not to issue) gold sovereigns; therefore, these gold sovereigns never left the vaults. As the British government gave up hope of replacing the rupee in India with the pound sterling, it realised for the same reason it could not replace the silver dollar in the Straits Settlements with the Indian rupee (as the British East India Company had desired). Since the silver crisis of 1873, several nations switched over to a gold exchange standard (wherein silver or banknotes circulate locally but with a fixed gold value for export purposes), including India in the 1890s.^[24]

India Council Bill[edit]

In 1870, India was connected to Britain by a submarine telegraph cable.
Around 1875, Britain started paying India for exported goods in India Council (paper) Bills (instead of silver).

If, therefore, the India Council in London should not step in to sell bills on India, the merchants and bankers would have to send silver to make good the (trade) balances. Thus a channel for the outflow of silver was stopped, in 1875, by the India Council in London.^[25]

The great importance of these (Council) Bills, however, is the effect they have on the Market Price of Silver : and they have in fact been one of the most potent factors in recent years in causing the diminution in the Value of Silver as compared to Gold.^[26]

The Indian and Chinese products for which silver is paid were and are, since 1873–74, very low in price, and it there fore takes less silver to purchase a larger quantity of Eastern commodities. Now, on taking the several agents into united consideration, it will certainly not seem very mysterious why silver should not only have fallen in price^[25]

The great nations had recourse to two expedients for replenishing their exchequers, – first, loans, and, second, the more convenient forced loans of paper money۔^[25]

Fowler Committee (1898)[edit]

The Indian Currency Committee or Fowler Committee was a government committee appointed by the British-run Government of India on 29 April 1898 to examine the currency situation in India.^[27] They collected a wide range of testimony, examined as many as forty-nine witnesses, and only reported their conclusions in July 1899, after more than a year’s deliberation.^[22]

The prophecy made before the Committee of 1898 by Mr. A. M. Lindsay, in proposing a scheme closely similar in principle to that which was eventually adopted, has been largely fulfilled. «This change,» he said, «will pass unnoticed, except by the intelligent few, and it is satisfactory to find that by this almost imperceptible process the Indian currency will be placed on a footing which Ricardo and other great authorities have advocated as the best of all currency systems, viz., one in which the currency media used in the internal circulation are confined to notes and cheap token coins, which are made to act precisely as if they were bits of gold by being made convertible into gold for foreign payment purposes.^[28] The committee concurred in the opinion of the Indian government that the mints should remain closed to the unrestricted coinage of silver, and that a gold standard should be adopted without delay…they recommended (1) that the British sovereign be given full legal tender power in India, and (2) that the Indian mints be thrown open to its unrestricted coinage (for gold coins only).

These recommendations were acceptable to both governments, and were shortly afterwards translated into laws. The act making gold a legal tender was promulgated on 15 September 1899; and preparations were soon thereafter undertaken for the coinage of gold sovereigns in the mint at Bombay.^[22]

Silver, therefore, has ceased to serve as standard; and the Indian currency system of to-day (that is 1901) may be described as that of a «limping» gold standard similar to the systems of France, Germany, Holland, and the United States.^[22]

The Committee of 1898 explicitly declared themselves to be in favour of the eventual establishment of a gold currency.
This goal, if it was their goal, the Government of India have never attained.^[28]

1900s[edit]

In 1913, John Maynard Keynes writes in his book Indian Currency and Finance that during financial year 1900–1901, gold coins (sovereigns) worth of £6,750,000 were given to Indian people in the hope that it will circulate as currency. But against the expectation of Government, even half of that were not returned to Government, and this experiment failed spectacularly, so Government abandoned this practice (but did not abandon the narrative of gold standard). Subsequently, much of the gold held by Government of India was shipped to Bank of England in 1901 and held there.^[29]

Problems caused by the gold standard[edit]

At the onset of the First World War, the cost of gold was very low and therefore the pound sterling had high value. But during the First World War, the value of the pound fell alarmingly due to rising war expenses. At the conclusion of the war, the value of the pound was only a fraction of what it used to be prior to the commencement of the war. It remained low until 1925, when the then Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) of the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill, restored it to pre-War levels. As a result, the price of gold fell rapidly. While the rest of Europe purchased large quantities of gold from the United Kingdom, there was little increase in her gold reserves. This dealt a blow to an already deteriorating British economy. The United Kingdom began to look to its possessions as India to compensate for the gold that was sold.^[30]

However, the price of gold in India, on the basis of the official exchange rate of the rupee around 1S.6d., was lower than the price prevailing abroad practically throughout; the disparity in prices made the export of the metal profitable, which phenomenon continued for almost a decade. Thus, in 1931–32, there were net exports of 7.7 million ounces, valued at Rs. 579.8 million. In the following year, both the quantity and the price rose further, net exports totaling 8.4 million ounces, valued at Rs. 655.2 million. In the ten years ended March 1941, total net exports were of the order of 43 million ounces (1337.3 Tons) valued at about Rs. 3.75 billion, or an average price of Rs. 32-12-4 per tola.^[31]

In the autumn of 1917 (when the silver price rose to 55 pence), there was danger of uprisings in India (against paper currency) which would handicap seriously British participation in the World War. In-convertibility (of paper currency into coin) would lead to a run on Post Office Savings Banks. It would prevent the further expansion of (paper currency) note issues and cause a rise of prices, in paper currency, that would greatly increase the cost of obtaining war supplies for export, to have reduced the silver content of this historic [rupee] coin might well have caused such popular distrust of the Government as to have precipitated an internal crisis, which would have been fatal to British success in the war.^[32]

From 1931 to 1941, The United Kingdom purchased large amount of gold from India and its many other colonies just by increasing price of gold, as Britain was able to pay in printable paper currency. Similarly, on 19 June 1934, Roosevelt made Silver Purchase Act (which increased price of silver) and purchased about 44,000 tons of silver by paying paper certificates (silver certificate).^[33]

In 1939, Dickson H. Leavens wrote in his book Silver Money: «In recent years the increased price of gold, measured in depreciated paper currencies, has attracted to the market (of London) large quantities (of gold) formerly hoarded or held in the form of ornaments in India and China».^[32]

The Indian rupee replaced the Danish Indian rupee in 1845, the French Indian rupee in 1954 and the Portuguese Indian escudo in 1961. Following the independence of India in 1947 and the accession of the princely states to the new Union, the Indian rupee replaced all the currencies of the previously autonomous states (although the Hyderabadi rupee was not demonetised until 1959).^[34] Some of the states had issued rupees equal to those issued by the British (such as the Travancore rupee). Other currencies (including the Hyderabadi rupee and the Kutch kori) had different values.

The values of the subdivisions of the rupee during British rule (and in the first decade of independence) were:

Subdivisions of rupee during 20th century

Value (in anna)	Popular name	Value (in paise)
16 anna	1 rupee	100 paise
8 anna	1 ardharupee / 1 athanni (dheli)	50 paise
4 anna	1 pavala / 1 chawanni	25 paise
2 anna	1 beda / 1 duanni	12 paise
1 anna	1 ekanni	6 paise
1⁄2 anna	1 paraka / 1 taka / 1 adhanni	3 paise
1⁄4 anna	1 kani (pice) / 1 paisa (old paise)	11⁄2 paise
1⁄8 anna	1 dhela	3⁄4 paisa
1⁄12 anna	1 pie	1⁄2 paisa
In 1957, the rupee was decimalised and divided into 100 naye paise (Hindi for «new paise»); in 1964, the initial naye was dropped. Many still refer to 25-, 50- and 75-paise coins as 4, 8, and 12 annas, respectively; compare the expression «two bits» in colloquial American English for a quarter-dollar coin.

New currency sign for the Indian rupee[edit]

In 2010, a new rupee sign (₹) was officially adopted. As its designer explained, it was derived from the combination of the Devanagari consonant «र» (ra) and the Latin capital letter «R» without its vertical bar.^[35] The parallel lines at the top (with white space between them) are said to make an allusion to the flag of India,^[36] and also depict an equality sign that symbolises the nation’s desire to reduce economic disparity. The first series of coins with the new rupee sign started in circulation on 8 July 2011. Before this, India used «₨» and «Re» as the symbols for multiple rupees and one rupee, respectively.

Digitization of Indian rupee[edit]

At 2022 Union budget of India, Nirmala Sitharaman from Ministry of Finance announced roll out of Digital Rupee from 2023.^[37] RBI launched it on 1 November 2022 as pilot project.^[38]

Coins[edit]

Pre-independence issues[edit]

East India Company, 1835[edit]

The three Presidencies established by the British East India Company (Bengal, Bombay and Madras) each issued their own coinages until 1835. All three issued rupees and fractions thereof down to 1⁄8— and 1⁄16-rupee in silver. Madras also issued two-rupee coins.

Copper denominations were more varied. Bengal issued one-pie, 1⁄2-, one- and two-paise coins. Bombay issued 1-pie, 1⁄4-, 1⁄2-, 1-, 11⁄2-, 2- and 4-paise coins. In Madras there were copper coins for two and four pies and one, two and four paisa, with the first two denominated as 1⁄2 and one dub (or 1⁄96 and 1⁄48) rupee. Madras also issued the Madras fanam until 1815.

All three Presidencies issued gold mohurs and fractions of mohurs including 1⁄16, 1⁄2, 1⁄4 in Bengal, 1⁄15 (a gold rupee) and 1⁄3 (pancia) in Bombay and 1⁄4, 1⁄3 and 1⁄2 in Madras.

In 1835, a single coinage for the EIC was introduced. It consisted of copper 1⁄12, 1⁄4 and 1⁄2 anna, silver 1⁄4, 1⁄3 and 1 rupee and gold 1 and 2 mohurs. In 1841, silver 2 annas were added, followed by copper 1⁄2 pice in 1853. The coinage of the EIC continued to be issued until 1862, even after the company had been taken over by the Crown.

Regal issues, 1862–1947[edit]

In 1862, coins were introduced (known as «regal issues») which bore the portrait of Queen Victoria and the designation «India». Their denominations were 1⁄12 anna, 1⁄2 pice, 1⁄4 and 1⁄2 anna (all in copper), 2 annas, 1⁄4, 1⁄2 and one rupee (silver),^[39] and five and ten rupees and one mohur (gold). The gold denominations ceased production in 1891, and no 1⁄2-anna coins were issued after 1877.

In 1906, bronze replaced copper for the lowest three denominations; in 1907, a cupro-nickel one-anna coin was introduced. In 1918–1919 cupro-nickel two-, four- and eight-annas were introduced, although the four- and eight-annas coins were only issued until 1921 and did not replace their silver equivalents. In 1918, the Bombay mint also struck gold sovereigns and 15-rupee coins identical in size to the sovereigns as an emergency measure during the First World War.

In the early 1940s, several changes were implemented. The 1⁄12 anna and 1⁄2 pice ceased production, the 1⁄4 anna was changed to a bronze, holed coin, cupro-nickel and nickel-brass 1⁄2-anna coins were introduced, nickel-brass was used to produce some one- and two-annas coins, and the silver composition was reduced from 91.7 to 50 percent. The last of the regal issues were cupro-nickel 1⁄4-, 1⁄2— and one-rupee pieces minted in 1946 and 1947, bearing the image of George VI, King and Emperor on the obverse and an Indian lion on the reverse.

Post-independence issues[edit]

Independent pre-decimal issues, 1950–1957[edit]

India’s first coins after independence were issued in 1950 in denominations of 1 pice, 1⁄2, one and two annas, 1⁄4, 1⁄2 and one-rupee. The sizes and composition were the same as the final regal issues, except for the one-pice (which was bronze, but not holed).

Independent decimal issues, 1957–present[edit]

The first decimal-coin issues in India consisted of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25 and 50 naye paise, and 1 rupee. The 1 naya paisa was bronze; the 2, 5, and 10 naye paise were cupro-nickel, and the 25 naye paise (nicknamed chawanni; 25 naye paise equals 4 annas), 50 naye paise (also called athanni; 50 naye paise equalled 8 old annas) and 1-rupee were nickel. In 1964, the words naya/naye were removed from all coins. Between 1957 and 1967, aluminium one-, two-, three-, five- and ten-paise coins were introduced. In 1968 nickel-brass 20-paise coins were introduced, and replaced by aluminium coins in 1982. Between 1972 and 1975, cupro-nickel replaced nickel in the 25- and 50-paise and the 1-rupee coins; in 1982, cupro-nickel two-rupee coins were introduced. In 1988 stainless steel 10-, 25- and 50-paise coins were introduced, followed by 1- and 5-rupee coins in 1992. Five-rupee coins, made from brass, are being minted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

In 1997 the 20 paise coin was discontinued, followed by the 10 paise coin in 1998, and the 25 paise in 2002.

Between 2005 and 2008 new, lighter fifty-paise, one-, two-, and five-rupee coins were introduced, made from ferritic stainless steel. The move was prompted by the melting-down of older coins, whose face value was less than their scrap value. The demonetisation of the 25-paise coin and all paise coins below it took place, and a new series of coins (50 paise – nicknamed athanni – one, two, five, and ten rupees with the new rupee sign) were put into circulation in 2011. In 2016 the 50 paise coin was last minted, but small commodities of prices are in 50 paise. Coins commonly in circulation are one, two, five, ten, and twenty rupees.^[40][41] Although it is still legal tender, the 50-paise (athanni) coin is rarely seen in circulation.^[42]

Circulating coins^[40][43]

Value	Technical parameters	Description	Year of
Diameter	Mass	Composition	Shape	Obverse	Reverse	First minting	Last minting
50 paise	19 mm	3.79 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, the word «PAISE» in English and Hindi, floral motif and year of minting	2011	2016
50 paise	22 mm	3.79 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, hand in a fist	2008
₹1	25 mm	4.85 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Emblem of India, value	Value, two stalks of wheat	1992	2004
₹1	25 mm	4.95 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Unity from diversity, cross dividing 4 dots	Value, Emblem of India, Year of minting	2004	2007
₹1	25 mm	4.85 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, hand showing thumb (an expression in the Bharata Natyam Dance)	2007	2011
₹1	22 mm	3.79 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, new rupee sign, floral motif and year of minting	2011	2018
₹2	26 mm	6 g	Cupro-Nickel	Eleven-sided	Emblem of India, Value	National integration	1982	2004
₹2	26.75 mm	5.8 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Unity from diversity, cross dividing 4 dots	Value, Emblem of India, Year of minting	2005	2007
₹2	27 mm	5.62 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Emblem of India, year of minting	Value, hand showing two fingers (Hasta Mudra – hand gesture from the dance Bharata Natyam)	2007	2011
₹2	25 mm	4.85 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, new rupee sign, floral motif and year of minting	2011	2018
₹2	23 mm	4.07 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, rupee sign, year of issue, grains depicting the agricultural dominance of the country	2019
₹5	23 mm	9 g	Cupro-Nickel	Circular	Emblem of India	Value	1992	2006
₹5	23 mm	6 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, wavy lines	2007	2009
₹5	23 mm	6 g	Brass	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, wavy lines	2009	2011
₹5	23 mm	6 g	Nickel-Brass	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, new rupee sign, floral motif and year of minting	2011	2018
₹5	25 mm	6.74 g	Nickel-Brass	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, rupee sign, year of issue, grains depicting the agricultural dominance of the country	2019
₹10	27 mm	7.62 g	Bimetallic	Circular	Emblem of India and year of minting	Value with outward radiating pattern of 15 spokes	2006	2010
₹10	27 mm	7.62 g	Bimetallic	Circular	Emblem of India and year of minting	Value with outward radiating pattern of 10 spokes, new rupee sign	2011	2018
₹10	27 mm	7.74 g	Bimetallic	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, rupee sign, year of issue, grains depicting the agricultural dominance of the country	2019
₹20	27 mm	8.54 g	Bimetallic	Dodecagonal	Emblem of India	Value, rupee sign, year of issue, grains depicting the agricultural dominance of the country	2020

The coins are minted at the four locations of the India Government Mint. The ₹1, ₹2, and ₹5 coins have been minted since independence. The Government of India is set to introduce a new ₹20 coin with a dodecagonal shape, and like the ₹10 coin, also bi-metallic, along with new designs for the new versions of the ₹1, ₹2, ₹5 and ₹10 coins, which was announced on 6 March 2019.^[44]

Minting[edit]

The Government of India has the only right to mint the coins and one rupee note. The responsibility for coinage comes under the Coinage Act, 1906 which is amended from time to time. The designing and minting of coins in various denominations is also the responsibility of the Government of India. Coins are minted at the four India Government Mints at Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Noida.^[45] The coins are issued for circulation only through the Reserve Bank in terms of the RBI Act.^[46]

Commemorative coins[edit]

After independence, the Government of India Mint, minted numismatics coins imprinted with Indian statesmen, historical and religious figures. In the years 2010 and 2011, for the first time ever, ₹75, ₹150 and ₹1000 coins were minted in India to commemorate the Platinum Jubilee of the Reserve Bank of India, the 150th birth anniversary of the birth of Rabindranath Tagore and 1000 years of the Brihadeeswarar Temple, respectively. In 2012, a ₹60 coin was also issued to commemorate 60 years of the Government of India Mint, Kolkata. ₹100 coin was also released commemorating the 100th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India.^[47] Commemorative coins of ₹125 were released on 4 September 2015 and 6 December 2015 to honour the 125th anniversary of the births of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and B. R. Ambedkar, respectively.^[48][49]

Banknotes[edit]

Pre-independence issues[edit]

In 1861, the Government of India introduced its first paper money: ₹10 note in 1864, ₹5 note in 1872, ₹10,000 note in 1899, ₹100 note in 1900, ₹50 note in 1905, ₹500 note in 1907 and ₹1,000 note in 1909. In 1917, ₹1 and ₹21⁄2 notes were introduced. The Reserve Bank of India began banknote production in 1938, issuing ₹2, ₹5, ₹10, ₹50, ₹100, ₹1,000 and ₹10,000 notes while the government continued issuing ₹1 note but demonetized the ₹500 and ₹2 1⁄2 notes.

Post-independence issues[edit]

After independence, new designs were introduced to replace the portrait of George VI. The government continued issuing the Re1 note, while the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued other denominations (including the ₹5,000 and ₹10,000 notes introduced in 1949). All pre-independence banknotes were officially demonetised with effect from 28 April 1957.^[50][51]

During the 1970s, ₹20 and ₹50 notes were introduced; denominations higher than ₹100 were demonetised in 1978. In 1987, the ₹500 note was introduced, followed by the ₹1,000 note in 2000 while ₹1 and ₹2 notes were discontinued in 1995.

The design of banknotes is approved by the central government, on the recommendation of the central board of the Reserve Bank of India.^[5] Currency notes are printed at the Currency Note Press in Nashik, the Bank Note Press in Dewas, the Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (P) Ltd at Salboni and Mysore and at the Watermark Paper Manufacturing Mill in Narmadapuram. The Mahatma Gandhi Series of banknotes are issued by the Reserve Bank of India as legal tender. The series is so named because the obverse of each note features a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. Since its introduction in 1996, this series has replaced all issued banknotes of the Lion Capital Series. The RBI introduced the series in 1996 with ₹10 and ₹500 banknotes. The printing of ₹5 notes (which had stopped earlier) resumed in 2009.

As of January 2012, the new ‘₹‘ sign has been incorporated into banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series in denominations of ₹10, ₹20, ₹50, ₹100, ₹500 and ₹1,000.^{[52][53][54][55]} In January 2014 RBI announced that it would be withdrawing from circulation all currency notes printed prior to 2005 by 31 March 2014. The deadline was later extended to 1 January 2015. The dead line was further extended to 30 June 2016.^[56]

On 8 November 2016, the RBI announced the issuance of new ₹500 and ₹2,000 banknotes in a new series after demonetisation of the older ₹500 and ₹1000 notes. The new ₹2,000 banknote has a magenta base colour, with a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi as well as the Ashoka Pillar Emblem on the front. The denomination also has a motif of the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) on the back, depicting the country’s first venture into interplanetary space. The new ₹500 banknote has a stone grey base colour with an image of the Red Fort along with the Indian flag printed on the back. Both the banknotes also have the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan logo printed on the back. The banknote denominations of ₹200, ₹100 and ₹50 have also been introduced in the new Mahatma Gandhi New Series intended to replace all banknotes of the previous Mahatma Gandhi Series.^[57] On 13 June 2017, RBI introduced new ₹50 notes, but the old ones continue being legal tender. The design is similar to the current notes in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series, except they will come with an inset ‘A’.

On 8 November 2016, the Government of India announced the demonetisation of ₹500 and ₹1,000 banknotes^[58][59] with effect from midnight of the same day, making these notes invalid.^[60] A newly redesigned series of ₹500 banknote, in addition to a new denomination of ₹2,000 banknote is in circulation since 10 November 2016.^[61][62]

From 2017 to 2019, the remaining banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi New Series were released in denominations of ₹10, ₹20, ₹50, ₹100 and ₹200.^[63][64] The ₹1,000 note has been suspended.^[57]

Current circulating banknotes[edit]

As of 26 April 2019, current circulating banknotes are in denominations of₹5, ₹10, ₹20, ₹50 and ₹100 from the Mahatma Gandhi Series and in denominations of ₹10, ₹20,^[65] ₹50, ₹100, ₹200, ₹500 and ₹2,000 from the Mahatma Gandhi New Series.

Current circulating banknotes

Image	Value	Dimensions	Main colour	Description	Date of issue	Circulation
Obverse	Reverse	Obverse	Reverse	Watermark
		₹1	97 mm × 63 mm	Pink	New ₹1 coin	Sagar Samrat oil rig	National Emblem of India	2020	Limited
		₹5	117 mm × 63 mm	Green	Mahatma Gandhi	Tractor	Mahatma Gandhi and electrotype denomination	2002 / 2009	Limited
		₹10	123 mm × 63 mm	Brown	Konark Sun Temple	2017	Wide
		₹20	129 mm × 63 mm	Yellow	Ellora Caves	2019	Wide
		₹50	135 mm × 66 mm	Cyan	Hampi with Chariot	2017	Wide
		₹100	142 mm × 66 mm	Lavender	Rani ki vav	2018	Wide
		₹200	146 mm × 66 mm	Orange	Sanchi Stupa	2017	Wide
		₹500	150 mm × 66 mm	Stone grey	Red Fort	2017	Wide
		₹2000	166 mm × 66 mm	Magenta	Mangalyaan	2016	Wide
For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

Micro printing[edit]

The new Indian banknote series feature a few micro printed texts on various locations. The first one lies on the inner surface of the left temple of Gandhi’s spectacles that reads «भारत» (Bhārata) which means India. The next one (which are printed only on 10 and 50 denominations) is placed on the outer surface of the right temple of Gandhi’s spectacles near his ear and reads «RBI» (Reserve Bank of India) and the face value in numerals «10» or «50». The last one is written on both sides of Gandhi’s collar and reads «भारत» and «INDIA» respectively. Currency notes have 17 languages on the panel which appear on the reverse of the notes.

Convertibility[edit]

Most traded currencies by value
Currency distribution of global foreign exchange market turnover^[66]

Rank	Currency	ISO 4217 code	Symbol or abbreviation	Proportion of daily volume, April 2019	Proportion of daily volume, April 2022
1	United States dollar	USD	$	88.3%	88.5%
2	Euro	EUR	€	32.3%	30.5%
3	Japanese yen	JPY	¥ / 円	16.8%	16.7%
4	Sterling	GBP	£	12.8%	12.9%
5	Renminbi	CNY	¥ / 元	4.3%	7.0%
6	Australian dollar	AUD	A$	6.8%	6.4%
7	Canadian dollar	CAD	C$	5.0%	6.2%
8	Swiss franc	CHF	CHF	5.0%	5.2%
9	Hong Kong dollar	HKD	HK$	3.5%	2.6%
10	Singapore dollar	SGD	S$	1.8%	2.4%
11	Swedish krona	SEK	kr	2.0%	2.2%
12	South Korean won	KRW	₩ / 원	2.0%	1.9%
13	Norwegian krone	NOK	kr	1.8%	1.7%
14	New Zealand dollar	NZD	NZ$	2.1%	1.7%
15	Indian rupee	INR	₹	1.7%	1.6%
16	Mexican peso	MXN	$	1.7%	1.5%
17	New Taiwan dollar	TWD	NT$	0.9%	1.1%
18	South African rand	ZAR	R	1.1%	1.0%
19	Brazilian real	BRL	R$	1.1%	0.9%
20	Danish krone	DKK	kr	0.6%	0.7%
21	Polish złoty	PLN	zł	0.6%	0.7%
22	Thai baht	THB	฿	0.5%	0.4%
23	Israeli new shekel	ILS	₪	0.3%	0.4%
24	Indonesian rupiah	IDR	Rp	0.4%	0.4%
25	Czech koruna	CZK	Kč	0.4%	0.4%
26	UAE dirham	AED	د.إ	0.2%	0.4%
27	Turkish lira	TRY	₺	1.1%	0.4%
28	Hungarian forint	HUF	Ft	0.4%	0.3%
29	Chilean peso	CLP	CLP$	0.3%	0.3%
30	Saudi riyal	SAR	﷼	0.2%	0.2%
31	Philippine peso	PHP	₱	0.3%	0.2%
32	Malaysian ringgit	MYR	RM	0.1%	0.2%
33	Colombian peso	COP	COL$	0.2%	0.2%
34	Russian ruble	RUB	₽	1.1%	0.2%
35	Romanian leu	RON	L	0.1%	0.1%
…	Other		2.2%	2.5%
Total[note 2]	200.0%	200.0%

Officially, the Indian rupee has a market-determined exchange rate. However, the Reserve Bank of India trades actively in the USD/INR currency market to impact effective exchange rates. Thus, the currency regime in place for the Indian rupee with respect to the US dollar is a de facto controlled exchange rate. This is sometimes called a «managed float». On 9 May 2022, Indian Rupee traded at ₹77.41 against the US dollar, hitting an all-time low.^[67] Other rates (such as the EUR/INR and INR/JPY) have the volatility typical of floating exchange rates, and often create persistent arbitrage opportunities against the RBI.^[68] Unlike China, successive administrations (through RBI, the central bank) have not followed a policy of pegging the INR to a specific foreign currency at a particular exchange rate. RBI intervention in currency markets is solely to ensure low volatility in exchange rates, and not to influence the rate (or direction) of the Indian rupee in relation to other currencies.^[69]

Also affecting convertibility is a series of customs regulations restricting the import and export of rupees. Legally, only up to ₹25000 can be imported or exported in cash at a time, and the possession of ₹200 and higher notes in Nepal is prohibited.^[70][71] The conversion of currencies for and from rupees is also regulated.

RBI also exercises a system of capital controls in addition to (through active trading) in currency markets. On the current account, there are no currency-conversion restrictions hindering buying or selling foreign exchange (although trade barriers exist). On the capital account, foreign institutional investors have convertibility to bring money into and out of the country and buy securities (subject to quantitative restrictions). Local firms are able to take capital out of the country to expand globally. However, local households are restricted in their ability to diversify globally. Because of the expansion of the current and capital accounts, India is increasingly moving towards full de facto convertibility.

There is some confusion regarding the interchange of the currency with gold, but the system that India follows is that money cannot be exchanged for gold under any circumstances due to gold’s lack of liquidity;^{[citation needed]} therefore, money cannot be changed into gold by the RBI. India follows the same principle as Great Britain and the US.

Reserve Bank of India clarifies its position regarding the promissory clause printed on each banknote:

«As per Section 26 of Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, the Bank is liable to pay the value of banknote. This is payable on demand by RBI, being the issuer. The Bank’s obligation to pay the value of banknote does not arise out of a contract but out of statutory provisions. The promissory clause printed on the banknotes i.e., «I promise to pay the bearer an amount of X» is a statement which means that the banknote is a legal tender for X amount. The obligation on the part of the Bank is to exchange a banknote for coins of an equivalent amount.»^[72]

Chronology[edit]

• 1991 – India began to lift restrictions on its currency. A number of reforms removed restrictions on current account transactions (including trade, interest payments and remittances and some capital asset-based transactions). Liberalised Exchange Rate Management System (LERMS) (a dual-exchange-rate system) introduced partial convertibility of the rupee in March 1992.^[73]
• 1997 – A panel (set up to explore capital account convertibility) recommended that India move towards full convertibility by 2000, but the timetable was abandoned in the wake of the 1997–1998 East Asian financial crisis.
• 2006 – Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked the Finance Minister and the Reserve Bank of India to prepare a road map for moving towards capital account convertibility.^[74]
• 2016 – the Government of India announced the demonetisation of all ₹500/- and ₹1,000/- banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series.^[75] The government claimed that the action would curtail the shadow economy and crack down on the use of illicit «black money» and counterfeit cash to fund illegal activity and terrorism.^[76][77]

Exchange rates[edit]

Historic exchange rates[edit]

Pre-Independence[edit]

For almost a century following the Great Recoinage of 1816, and adoption of the Gold Standard, until the outbreak of World War I, the silver backed Indian rupee lost value against a basket of Gold pegged currencies, and was periodically devalued to reflect the then current gold to silver reserve ratios, see above. In 1850 the official conversion rate between a pound sterling and the rupee was £0 / 2s / 0d (or £1:₹10), while between 1899 and 1914 the official conversion rate was set low at £0 / 1s / 4d (or £1:₹15), for comparison during this period the US dollar was pegged at £1:$4.79. However, this was just half of market exchange rates during 1893–1917.

The gold/silver ratio expanded during 1870–1910. Unlike India, Britain was on the gold standard. To meet the Home Charges (i.e., expenditure in the United Kingdom) the colonial government had to remit a larger number of rupees and this necessitated increased taxation, unrest and nationalism.

Between the wars the rate improved to 1s 6d (or £1:₹13.33), and remained pegged at this rate for the duration of the Breton Woods agreement, to its devaluation and pegging to the US dollar, at $1:₹7.50, in 1966.^[78][79]

Post-Independence[edit]

Post Independence India followed Par value system of exchange until 1971. The country switched to pegged system in 1971 and graduated to basket peg againstfive major currencies from 1975. After the 1991 Economic liberalisation in India the currency exchange rates became market controlled.^[80]

The first major impact on exchange rate after Independence was the devaluation of sterling against the US dollar in 1949, this impacted currencies that maintained a peg to the sterling, such as the Indian rupee.^[81] The next major episode was in 1966 when Indian rupee was devaluated by 57% against United States dollar. Correspondingly the rates against Pound sterling too suffered depreciation.^[82] In 1971 August, when the Bretton Woods system India initially announced that it will maintain a fixed rate of US$1 = Rs. 7.50 and leave Pound sterling floating.^[83] However, by the end of 1971, following Smithsonian Agreement and subsequent devaluation of United States dollar, India pegged Indian rupee with Pound sterling once again with a rate of £1 = Rs. 18.9677.^[84] In the above period India had a non — commercial exchange rate with Soviet Union. The Ruble — Rupee rates were announced by Soviet Union since Ruble wasn’t a freely traded currency and the commercial trade between both nations use to take place in rupee trade account following the India–Soviet Trade Treaty 1953.

In September 1975, exchange rate of Indian rupee started to be determined on the basis of basket peg. The details of currencies which forms the basket and its weightage were kept confidentially by Reserve Bank of India and the exchange rate of rupee on the basis of market fluctuation of these currencies were periodically announced by RBI.^[85][86]

The next major change that occurred to Indian Rupee was devaluation by about 18% in July 1991 following the Balance of payment crisis.^[87] Thereafter, in March 1992, Liberalized Exchange Rate Management System was introduced.

Indian rupees per currency unit averaged over the year^[88][89]

Currency	ISO code	1947	1966	1995	1996	2000	2004	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Australian dollar	AUD	–	5.33	–	27.69	26.07	33.28	34.02	34.60	36.81	38.22	42.00	56.36	54.91	48.21	49.96	49.91	50.64	50.01	56.30
Bahraini dinar	BHD	–	13.35	91.75	91.24	117.78	120.39	120.40	109.59	115.65	128.60	121.60	155.95	164.55	170.6	178.3	–	169.77
Bangladeshi taka	BDT	–	–	0.84	0.84	0.77	0.66	0.63	0.57	0.71	0.66	0.68	0.80	0.88	0.84	0.85	–	0.76
Canadian dollar	CAD	–	5.90	23.63	26.00	30.28	34.91	41.09	42.92	44.59	52.17	44.39	56.88	49.53	47.94	52.32	50.21	51.38
Renminbi	CNY	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	5.80	–	–	–	9.93	10.19	10.15	–	9.81
Emirate dirham	AED	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	17.47	18.26	17.73	17.80
Euroa	EUR	–	–	42.41	44.40	41.52	56.38	64.12	68.03	60.59	65.69	–	–	70.21	72.60	75.84	73.53	79.52
Israeli shekelb	ILS	13.33	21.97	11.45	10.76	10.83	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	17.08	16.57	17.47	–	18.36
Japanese yenc	JPY	6.6	2.08	32.66	32.96	41.79	41.87	38.93	35.00	42.27	51.73	52.23	60.07	57.79	53.01	62.36	–	56
Kuwaiti dinar	KWD	–	17.80	115.5	114.5	144.9	153.3	155.5	144.6	161.7	167.7	159.2	206.5	214.3	213.1	222.4		211.43
Malaysian ringgit	MYR	1.55	2.07	12.97	14.11	11.84	11.91	12.36	11.98	13.02	13.72	14.22	18.59	18.65	16.47	16.37	–	15.72
Maldivian rufiyaa	MVR	1.00	1.33	2.93	2.91	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4.58	4.76	5.01	5.23	–	4.13
Pakistani rupee	PKR	1.00	1.33	1.08	0.95	0.80	0.77	0.75	0.67	0.61	0.59	0.53	0.57	0.60	0.62	0.64	–	0.57	0.46	0.45
Pound sterling	GBP	13.33	17.76	51.14	55.38	68.11	83.06	80.63	76.38	71.33	83.63	70.63	91.08	100.51	98.11	92.00	83.87	90.37
Russian rubled	RUB	6.60	15.00	7.56	6.69	1.57	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1.05	0.99	–	1.10
Saudi riyal	SAR	–	1.41	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	17.11	17.88	–	17.02
Singapore dollar / Brunei dollare	SGD / BND	1.55	2.07	23.13	25.16	26.07	26.83	30.93	33.60	34.51	41.27	33.58	46.84	45.86	46.67	48.86	–	47.70
Sri Lankan rupee	LKR	–	1.33	0.63	0.64	0.58	–	–	–	–	–	–	0.47	0.46	0.45	0.46	–	0.41	0.39	0.39
Swiss franc	CHF	–	1.46	27.48	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	43.95	66.95	66.71	66.70	68.40	–	65.48
US dollar	USD	3.30	7.50	32.45	35.44	44.20	45.34	43.95	39.50	48.76	45.33	45.00	68.80	66.07	66.73	67.19	65.11	72.10
a Before 1 January 1999, the European Currency Unit (ECU) b Before 1980, the Israeli pound (ILP) c 100 Japanese yen d Before 1993, the Soviet ruble (SUR), in 1995 and 1996 – per 1000 rubles e Before 1967, the Malaya and British Borneo dollar

Current exchange rates[edit]

Current INR exchange rates
From Google Finance:	AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD AED JPY USD
From Yahoo! Finance:	AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD AED JPY USD
From XE.com:	AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD AED JPY USD
From OANDA:	AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD AED JPY USD

Worldwide rupee usage[edit]

As the Straits Settlements were originally an outpost of the British East India Company, the Indian rupee was made the sole official currency of the Straits Settlements in 1837, as it was administered as part of British India. This attempt was resisted by the locals. However, Spanish dollars continued to circulate and 1845 saw the introduction of coinage for the Straits Settlements using a system of 100 cents = 1 dollar, with the dollar equal to the Spanish dollar or Mexican peso. In 1867, administration of the Straits Settlements was separated from India and the Straits dollar was made the standard currency, and attempts to reintroduce the rupee were finally abandoned.^[90]

After the Partition of India, the Pakistani rupee came into existence, initially using Indian coins and Indian currency notes simply overstamped with «Pakistan». Previously the Indian rupee was an official currency of other countries, including Aden, Oman, Dubai, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the Trucial States, Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda, the Seychelles and Mauritius.

The Indian government introduced the Gulf rupee as a replacement for the Indian rupee for circulation outside the country with the Reserve Bank of India (Amendment) Act of 1 May 1959.^[91] The creation of a separate currency was an attempt to reduce the strain on India’s foreign reserves from gold smuggling. After India devalued the rupee on 6 June 1966, those countries still using it – Oman, Qatar, and the Trucial States (which became the United Arab Emirates in 1971) – replaced the Gulf rupee with their own currencies. Kuwait and Bahrain had already done so in 1961 with Kuwaiti dinar and in 1965 with Bahraini dinar, respectively.^[92]

The Bhutanese ngultrum is pegged at par with the Indian rupee; both currencies are accepted in Bhutan. The Nepalese rupee is pegged at ₹0.625; the Indian rupee is accepted in Bhutan and Nepal, except ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series and the ₹200, ₹500 and ₹2,000 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi New Series, which are not legal tender in Bhutan and Nepal and are banned by their respective governments, though accepted by many retailers.^[93] On 29 January 2014, Zimbabwe added the Indian rupee as a legal tender to be used.^[94][95]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]

• A gallery of all Indian currency issues
• «Gallery of Indian Rupee Notes introduced till date». Reserve Bank of India. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
• The banknotes of India (in English and German)

Indian rupee

Bankotes of the Indian Rupee Coins of the Indian rupee
ISO 4217
Code	INR (numeric: 356)
Subunit	0.01
Unit
Unit	Rupee
Symbol	₹‎
Denominations
Subunit
1⁄100	paisa
Symbol
paisa
Banknotes
Freq. used	₹10, ₹20, ₹50, ₹100, ₹200, ₹500
Rarely used	₹1, ₹2, ₹5, ₹2000
Coins
Freq. used	₹1, ₹2, ₹5, ₹10, ₹20
Rarely used	50
Demographics
Official user(s)	India  Bhutan[1]    Nepal[2]
Unofficial user(s)	Zimbabwe[note 1][3][4]
Issuance
Central bank	Reserve Bank of India[5]
Website	www.rbi.org.in
Printer	Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited[6]
Website	spmcil.com
Mint	India Government Mint[6]
Website	spmcil.com
Valuation
Inflation	6.2% (2020–21)
Source	RBI – Annual Inflation Report
Method	Consumer price index (India)[8]
Pegged by	Bhutanese ngultrum (at par) Nepalese rupee (higher value) [1INR=1.6 Nepalese Rupee][7]

The Indian rupee (symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency in the Republic of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 paise (singular: paisa), though as of 2023, coins of denomination of 1 rupee are the lowest value in use whereas 2000 rupees is the highest. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India. The Reserve Bank manages currency in India and derives its role in currency management on the basis of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

Etymology[edit]

The immediate precursor of the rupee is the rūpiya—the silver coin weighing 178 grains minted in northern India, first by Sher Shah Suri during his brief rule between 1540 and 1545, and later adopted and standardized by the Mughal Empire. The weight remained unchanged well beyond the end of the Mughals until the 20th century.^[9] Though Pāṇini mentions rūpya (रूप्य), it is unclear whether he was referring to coinage.^[10] Arthashastra, written by Chanakya, prime minister to the first Maurya emperor Chandragupta Maurya (c. 340–290 BCE), mentions silver coins as rūpyarūpa. Other types of coins, including gold coins (suvarṇarūpa), copper coins (tāmrarūpa), and lead coins (sīsarūpa), are also mentioned.^[11]

History[edit]

The history of the Indian rupee traces back to ancient India in circa 6th century BCE: ancient India was one of the earliest issuers of coins in the world,^[12] along with the Chinese wen and Lydian staters.^[13]

Arthashastra, written by Chanakya, prime minister to the first Maurya emperor Chandragupta Maurya (c. 340–290 BCE), mentions silver coins as rūpyarūpa, other types including gold coins (suvarṇarūpa), copper coins (tamrarūpa) and lead coins (sīsarūpa) are mentioned. Rūpa means ‘form’ or ‘shape’; for example, in the word rūpyarūpa: rūpya ‘wrought silver’ and rūpa ‘form’.^[14]

The Gupta Empire produced large numbers of silver coins clearly influenced by those of the earlier Western Satraps by Chandragupta II.^[15] The silver Rūpaka (Sanskrit: रूपक) coins were weighed approximately 20 ratis (2.2678g).^[16]

In the intermediate times there was no fixed monetary system as reported by the Da Tang Xi Yu Ji.^[17]

During his five-year rule from 1540 to 1545, Sultan Sher Shah Suri issued a coin of silver, weighing 178 grains (or 11.53 grams), which was also termed the rupiya.^[18][19] During Babur’s time, the brass to silver exchange ratio was roughly 50:2.^[20] The silver coin remained in use during the Mughal period, Maratha era as well as in British India.^[21] Among the earliest issues of paper rupees include; the Bank of Hindustan (1770–1832), the General Bank of Bengal and Bihar (1773–1775, established by Warren Hastings), and the Bengal Bank (1784–91).^{[citation needed]}

1800s[edit]

Indian silver rupee value (1820 –1900)[22]
Year	Exchange rate (pence per rupee)	Melt value (pence per rupee)
1850	24.3	22.7
1851	24.1	22.7
1852	23.9	22.5
1853	24.1	22.8
1854	23.1	22.8
1855	24.2	22.8
1856	24.2	22.8
1857	24.6	22.9
1858	25.7	22.8
1859	26.0	23.0
1860	26.0	22.9
1861	23.9	22.6
1862	23.9	22.8
1863	23.9	22.8
1864	23.9	22.8
1865	23.8	22.7
1866	23.1	22.7
1867	23.2	22.5
1868	23.2	22.5
1869	23.3	22.5
1870	22.5	22.5
1871	23.1	22.5
1872	22.7	22.4
1873	22.3	22.0
1874	22.1	21.6
1875	21.6	21.1
1876	20.5	19.6
1877	20.8	20.4
1878	19.8	19.5
1879	20.0	19.0
1880	19.9	19.4
1881	19.9	19.2
1882	19.5	19.3
1883	19.5	18.7
1884	19.3	18.8
1885	18.2	18.0
1886	17.4	16.8
1887	16.9	16.6
1888	16.4	15.9
1889	16.5	15.8
1890	18.0	17.7
1891	16.7	16.7
1892	15.0	14.8
1893	14.5	13.2
1894	13.1	10.7
1895	13.6	11.1
1896	14.4	11.5
1897	15.3	10.2
1898	16.0	10.0
1899	16.0	10.2
1900	16.0	10.4

Historically, the rupee was a silver coin. This had severe consequences in the nineteenth century when the strongest economies in the world were on the gold standard (that is, paper linked to gold). The discovery of large quantities of silver in the United States and several European colonies caused the panic of 1873 which resulted in a decline in the value of silver relative to gold, devaluing India’s standard currency. This event was known as «the fall of the rupee.» In Britain the Long Depression resulted in bankruptcies, escalating unemployment, a halt in public works, and a major trade slump that lasted until 1897.^[23]

India was unaffected by the imperial order-in-council of 1825, which attempted to introduce British sterling coinage to the British colonies. India, at that time, was controlled by the British East India Company. The silver rupee coin continued as the currency of India through the British Raj and beyond. In 1835, British India adopted a mono-metallic silver standard based on the rupee coin; this decision was influenced by a letter written by Lord Liverpool in 1805 extolling the virtues of mono-metallism.

Following the First war of Independence in 1857, the British government took direct control of India. From 1851, gold sovereigns were produced en masse at the Royal Mint in Sydney. In an 1864 attempt to make the British gold sovereign the «imperial coin», the treasuries in Bombay and Calcutta were instructed to receive (but not to issue) gold sovereigns; therefore, these gold sovereigns never left the vaults. As the British government gave up hope of replacing the rupee in India with the pound sterling, it realised for the same reason it could not replace the silver dollar in the Straits Settlements with the Indian rupee (as the British East India Company had desired). Since the silver crisis of 1873, several nations switched over to a gold exchange standard (wherein silver or banknotes circulate locally but with a fixed gold value for export purposes), including India in the 1890s.^[24]

India Council Bill[edit]

In 1870, India was connected to Britain by a submarine telegraph cable.
Around 1875, Britain started paying India for exported goods in India Council (paper) Bills (instead of silver).

If, therefore, the India Council in London should not step in to sell bills on India, the merchants and bankers would have to send silver to make good the (trade) balances. Thus a channel for the outflow of silver was stopped, in 1875, by the India Council in London.^[25]

The great importance of these (Council) Bills, however, is the effect they have on the Market Price of Silver : and they have in fact been one of the most potent factors in recent years in causing the diminution in the Value of Silver as compared to Gold.^[26]

The Indian and Chinese products for which silver is paid were and are, since 1873–74, very low in price, and it there fore takes less silver to purchase a larger quantity of Eastern commodities. Now, on taking the several agents into united consideration, it will certainly not seem very mysterious why silver should not only have fallen in price^[25]

The great nations had recourse to two expedients for replenishing their exchequers, – first, loans, and, second, the more convenient forced loans of paper money۔^[25]

Fowler Committee (1898)[edit]

The Indian Currency Committee or Fowler Committee was a government committee appointed by the British-run Government of India on 29 April 1898 to examine the currency situation in India.^[27] They collected a wide range of testimony, examined as many as forty-nine witnesses, and only reported their conclusions in July 1899, after more than a year’s deliberation.^[22]

The prophecy made before the Committee of 1898 by Mr. A. M. Lindsay, in proposing a scheme closely similar in principle to that which was eventually adopted, has been largely fulfilled. «This change,» he said, «will pass unnoticed, except by the intelligent few, and it is satisfactory to find that by this almost imperceptible process the Indian currency will be placed on a footing which Ricardo and other great authorities have advocated as the best of all currency systems, viz., one in which the currency media used in the internal circulation are confined to notes and cheap token coins, which are made to act precisely as if they were bits of gold by being made convertible into gold for foreign payment purposes.^[28] The committee concurred in the opinion of the Indian government that the mints should remain closed to the unrestricted coinage of silver, and that a gold standard should be adopted without delay…they recommended (1) that the British sovereign be given full legal tender power in India, and (2) that the Indian mints be thrown open to its unrestricted coinage (for gold coins only).

These recommendations were acceptable to both governments, and were shortly afterwards translated into laws. The act making gold a legal tender was promulgated on 15 September 1899; and preparations were soon thereafter undertaken for the coinage of gold sovereigns in the mint at Bombay.^[22]

Silver, therefore, has ceased to serve as standard; and the Indian currency system of to-day (that is 1901) may be described as that of a «limping» gold standard similar to the systems of France, Germany, Holland, and the United States.^[22]

The Committee of 1898 explicitly declared themselves to be in favour of the eventual establishment of a gold currency.
This goal, if it was their goal, the Government of India have never attained.^[28]

1900s[edit]

In 1913, John Maynard Keynes writes in his book Indian Currency and Finance that during financial year 1900–1901, gold coins (sovereigns) worth of £6,750,000 were given to Indian people in the hope that it will circulate as currency. But against the expectation of Government, even half of that were not returned to Government, and this experiment failed spectacularly, so Government abandoned this practice (but did not abandon the narrative of gold standard). Subsequently, much of the gold held by Government of India was shipped to Bank of England in 1901 and held there.^[29]

Problems caused by the gold standard[edit]

At the onset of the First World War, the cost of gold was very low and therefore the pound sterling had high value. But during the First World War, the value of the pound fell alarmingly due to rising war expenses. At the conclusion of the war, the value of the pound was only a fraction of what it used to be prior to the commencement of the war. It remained low until 1925, when the then Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) of the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill, restored it to pre-War levels. As a result, the price of gold fell rapidly. While the rest of Europe purchased large quantities of gold from the United Kingdom, there was little increase in her gold reserves. This dealt a blow to an already deteriorating British economy. The United Kingdom began to look to its possessions as India to compensate for the gold that was sold.^[30]

However, the price of gold in India, on the basis of the official exchange rate of the rupee around 1S.6d., was lower than the price prevailing abroad practically throughout; the disparity in prices made the export of the metal profitable, which phenomenon continued for almost a decade. Thus, in 1931–32, there were net exports of 7.7 million ounces, valued at Rs. 579.8 million. In the following year, both the quantity and the price rose further, net exports totaling 8.4 million ounces, valued at Rs. 655.2 million. In the ten years ended March 1941, total net exports were of the order of 43 million ounces (1337.3 Tons) valued at about Rs. 3.75 billion, or an average price of Rs. 32-12-4 per tola.^[31]

In the autumn of 1917 (when the silver price rose to 55 pence), there was danger of uprisings in India (against paper currency) which would handicap seriously British participation in the World War. In-convertibility (of paper currency into coin) would lead to a run on Post Office Savings Banks. It would prevent the further expansion of (paper currency) note issues and cause a rise of prices, in paper currency, that would greatly increase the cost of obtaining war supplies for export, to have reduced the silver content of this historic [rupee] coin might well have caused such popular distrust of the Government as to have precipitated an internal crisis, which would have been fatal to British success in the war.^[32]

From 1931 to 1941, The United Kingdom purchased large amount of gold from India and its many other colonies just by increasing price of gold, as Britain was able to pay in printable paper currency. Similarly, on 19 June 1934, Roosevelt made Silver Purchase Act (which increased price of silver) and purchased about 44,000 tons of silver by paying paper certificates (silver certificate).^[33]

In 1939, Dickson H. Leavens wrote in his book Silver Money: «In recent years the increased price of gold, measured in depreciated paper currencies, has attracted to the market (of London) large quantities (of gold) formerly hoarded or held in the form of ornaments in India and China».^[32]

The Indian rupee replaced the Danish Indian rupee in 1845, the French Indian rupee in 1954 and the Portuguese Indian escudo in 1961. Following the independence of India in 1947 and the accession of the princely states to the new Union, the Indian rupee replaced all the currencies of the previously autonomous states (although the Hyderabadi rupee was not demonetised until 1959).^[34] Some of the states had issued rupees equal to those issued by the British (such as the Travancore rupee). Other currencies (including the Hyderabadi rupee and the Kutch kori) had different values.

The values of the subdivisions of the rupee during British rule (and in the first decade of independence) were:

Subdivisions of rupee during 20th century

Value (in anna)	Popular name	Value (in paise)
16 anna	1 rupee	100 paise
8 anna	1 ardharupee / 1 athanni (dheli)	50 paise
4 anna	1 pavala / 1 chawanni	25 paise
2 anna	1 beda / 1 duanni	12 paise
1 anna	1 ekanni	6 paise
1⁄2 anna	1 paraka / 1 taka / 1 adhanni	3 paise
1⁄4 anna	1 kani (pice) / 1 paisa (old paise)	11⁄2 paise
1⁄8 anna	1 dhela	3⁄4 paisa
1⁄12 anna	1 pie	1⁄2 paisa
In 1957, the rupee was decimalised and divided into 100 naye paise (Hindi for «new paise»); in 1964, the initial naye was dropped. Many still refer to 25-, 50- and 75-paise coins as 4, 8, and 12 annas, respectively; compare the expression «two bits» in colloquial American English for a quarter-dollar coin.

New currency sign for the Indian rupee[edit]

In 2010, a new rupee sign (₹) was officially adopted. As its designer explained, it was derived from the combination of the Devanagari consonant «र» (ra) and the Latin capital letter «R» without its vertical bar.^[35] The parallel lines at the top (with white space between them) are said to make an allusion to the flag of India,^[36] and also depict an equality sign that symbolises the nation’s desire to reduce economic disparity. The first series of coins with the new rupee sign started in circulation on 8 July 2011. Before this, India used «₨» and «Re» as the symbols for multiple rupees and one rupee, respectively.

Digitization of Indian rupee[edit]

At 2022 Union budget of India, Nirmala Sitharaman from Ministry of Finance announced roll out of Digital Rupee from 2023.^[37] RBI launched it on 1 November 2022 as pilot project.^[38]

Coins[edit]

Pre-independence issues[edit]

East India Company, 1835[edit]

The three Presidencies established by the British East India Company (Bengal, Bombay and Madras) each issued their own coinages until 1835. All three issued rupees and fractions thereof down to 1⁄8— and 1⁄16-rupee in silver. Madras also issued two-rupee coins.

Copper denominations were more varied. Bengal issued one-pie, 1⁄2-, one- and two-paise coins. Bombay issued 1-pie, 1⁄4-, 1⁄2-, 1-, 11⁄2-, 2- and 4-paise coins. In Madras there were copper coins for two and four pies and one, two and four paisa, with the first two denominated as 1⁄2 and one dub (or 1⁄96 and 1⁄48) rupee. Madras also issued the Madras fanam until 1815.

All three Presidencies issued gold mohurs and fractions of mohurs including 1⁄16, 1⁄2, 1⁄4 in Bengal, 1⁄15 (a gold rupee) and 1⁄3 (pancia) in Bombay and 1⁄4, 1⁄3 and 1⁄2 in Madras.

In 1835, a single coinage for the EIC was introduced. It consisted of copper 1⁄12, 1⁄4 and 1⁄2 anna, silver 1⁄4, 1⁄3 and 1 rupee and gold 1 and 2 mohurs. In 1841, silver 2 annas were added, followed by copper 1⁄2 pice in 1853. The coinage of the EIC continued to be issued until 1862, even after the company had been taken over by the Crown.

Regal issues, 1862–1947[edit]

In 1862, coins were introduced (known as «regal issues») which bore the portrait of Queen Victoria and the designation «India». Their denominations were 1⁄12 anna, 1⁄2 pice, 1⁄4 and 1⁄2 anna (all in copper), 2 annas, 1⁄4, 1⁄2 and one rupee (silver),^[39] and five and ten rupees and one mohur (gold). The gold denominations ceased production in 1891, and no 1⁄2-anna coins were issued after 1877.

In 1906, bronze replaced copper for the lowest three denominations; in 1907, a cupro-nickel one-anna coin was introduced. In 1918–1919 cupro-nickel two-, four- and eight-annas were introduced, although the four- and eight-annas coins were only issued until 1921 and did not replace their silver equivalents. In 1918, the Bombay mint also struck gold sovereigns and 15-rupee coins identical in size to the sovereigns as an emergency measure during the First World War.

In the early 1940s, several changes were implemented. The 1⁄12 anna and 1⁄2 pice ceased production, the 1⁄4 anna was changed to a bronze, holed coin, cupro-nickel and nickel-brass 1⁄2-anna coins were introduced, nickel-brass was used to produce some one- and two-annas coins, and the silver composition was reduced from 91.7 to 50 percent. The last of the regal issues were cupro-nickel 1⁄4-, 1⁄2— and one-rupee pieces minted in 1946 and 1947, bearing the image of George VI, King and Emperor on the obverse and an Indian lion on the reverse.

Post-independence issues[edit]

Independent pre-decimal issues, 1950–1957[edit]

India’s first coins after independence were issued in 1950 in denominations of 1 pice, 1⁄2, one and two annas, 1⁄4, 1⁄2 and one-rupee. The sizes and composition were the same as the final regal issues, except for the one-pice (which was bronze, but not holed).

Independent decimal issues, 1957–present[edit]

The first decimal-coin issues in India consisted of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25 and 50 naye paise, and 1 rupee. The 1 naya paisa was bronze; the 2, 5, and 10 naye paise were cupro-nickel, and the 25 naye paise (nicknamed chawanni; 25 naye paise equals 4 annas), 50 naye paise (also called athanni; 50 naye paise equalled 8 old annas) and 1-rupee were nickel. In 1964, the words naya/naye were removed from all coins. Between 1957 and 1967, aluminium one-, two-, three-, five- and ten-paise coins were introduced. In 1968 nickel-brass 20-paise coins were introduced, and replaced by aluminium coins in 1982. Between 1972 and 1975, cupro-nickel replaced nickel in the 25- and 50-paise and the 1-rupee coins; in 1982, cupro-nickel two-rupee coins were introduced. In 1988 stainless steel 10-, 25- and 50-paise coins were introduced, followed by 1- and 5-rupee coins in 1992. Five-rupee coins, made from brass, are being minted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

In 1997 the 20 paise coin was discontinued, followed by the 10 paise coin in 1998, and the 25 paise in 2002.

Between 2005 and 2008 new, lighter fifty-paise, one-, two-, and five-rupee coins were introduced, made from ferritic stainless steel. The move was prompted by the melting-down of older coins, whose face value was less than their scrap value. The demonetisation of the 25-paise coin and all paise coins below it took place, and a new series of coins (50 paise – nicknamed athanni – one, two, five, and ten rupees with the new rupee sign) were put into circulation in 2011. In 2016 the 50 paise coin was last minted, but small commodities of prices are in 50 paise. Coins commonly in circulation are one, two, five, ten, and twenty rupees.^[40][41] Although it is still legal tender, the 50-paise (athanni) coin is rarely seen in circulation.^[42]

Circulating coins^[40][43]

Value	Technical parameters	Description	Year of
Diameter	Mass	Composition	Shape	Obverse	Reverse	First minting	Last minting
50 paise	19 mm	3.79 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, the word «PAISE» in English and Hindi, floral motif and year of minting	2011	2016
50 paise	22 mm	3.79 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, hand in a fist	2008
₹1	25 mm	4.85 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Emblem of India, value	Value, two stalks of wheat	1992	2004
₹1	25 mm	4.95 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Unity from diversity, cross dividing 4 dots	Value, Emblem of India, Year of minting	2004	2007
₹1	25 mm	4.85 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, hand showing thumb (an expression in the Bharata Natyam Dance)	2007	2011
₹1	22 mm	3.79 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, new rupee sign, floral motif and year of minting	2011	2018
₹2	26 mm	6 g	Cupro-Nickel	Eleven-sided	Emblem of India, Value	National integration	1982	2004
₹2	26.75 mm	5.8 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Unity from diversity, cross dividing 4 dots	Value, Emblem of India, Year of minting	2005	2007
₹2	27 mm	5.62 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Emblem of India, year of minting	Value, hand showing two fingers (Hasta Mudra – hand gesture from the dance Bharata Natyam)	2007	2011
₹2	25 mm	4.85 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, new rupee sign, floral motif and year of minting	2011	2018
₹2	23 mm	4.07 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, rupee sign, year of issue, grains depicting the agricultural dominance of the country	2019
₹5	23 mm	9 g	Cupro-Nickel	Circular	Emblem of India	Value	1992	2006
₹5	23 mm	6 g	Ferritic stainless steel	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, wavy lines	2007	2009
₹5	23 mm	6 g	Brass	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, wavy lines	2009	2011
₹5	23 mm	6 g	Nickel-Brass	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, new rupee sign, floral motif and year of minting	2011	2018
₹5	25 mm	6.74 g	Nickel-Brass	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, rupee sign, year of issue, grains depicting the agricultural dominance of the country	2019
₹10	27 mm	7.62 g	Bimetallic	Circular	Emblem of India and year of minting	Value with outward radiating pattern of 15 spokes	2006	2010
₹10	27 mm	7.62 g	Bimetallic	Circular	Emblem of India and year of minting	Value with outward radiating pattern of 10 spokes, new rupee sign	2011	2018
₹10	27 mm	7.74 g	Bimetallic	Circular	Emblem of India	Value, rupee sign, year of issue, grains depicting the agricultural dominance of the country	2019
₹20	27 mm	8.54 g	Bimetallic	Dodecagonal	Emblem of India	Value, rupee sign, year of issue, grains depicting the agricultural dominance of the country	2020

The coins are minted at the four locations of the India Government Mint. The ₹1, ₹2, and ₹5 coins have been minted since independence. The Government of India is set to introduce a new ₹20 coin with a dodecagonal shape, and like the ₹10 coin, also bi-metallic, along with new designs for the new versions of the ₹1, ₹2, ₹5 and ₹10 coins, which was announced on 6 March 2019.^[44]

Minting[edit]

The Government of India has the only right to mint the coins and one rupee note. The responsibility for coinage comes under the Coinage Act, 1906 which is amended from time to time. The designing and minting of coins in various denominations is also the responsibility of the Government of India. Coins are minted at the four India Government Mints at Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Noida.^[45] The coins are issued for circulation only through the Reserve Bank in terms of the RBI Act.^[46]

Commemorative coins[edit]

After independence, the Government of India Mint, minted numismatics coins imprinted with Indian statesmen, historical and religious figures. In the years 2010 and 2011, for the first time ever, ₹75, ₹150 and ₹1000 coins were minted in India to commemorate the Platinum Jubilee of the Reserve Bank of India, the 150th birth anniversary of the birth of Rabindranath Tagore and 1000 years of the Brihadeeswarar Temple, respectively. In 2012, a ₹60 coin was also issued to commemorate 60 years of the Government of India Mint, Kolkata. ₹100 coin was also released commemorating the 100th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India.^[47] Commemorative coins of ₹125 were released on 4 September 2015 and 6 December 2015 to honour the 125th anniversary of the births of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and B. R. Ambedkar, respectively.^[48][49]

Banknotes[edit]

Pre-independence issues[edit]

In 1861, the Government of India introduced its first paper money: ₹10 note in 1864, ₹5 note in 1872, ₹10,000 note in 1899, ₹100 note in 1900, ₹50 note in 1905, ₹500 note in 1907 and ₹1,000 note in 1909. In 1917, ₹1 and ₹21⁄2 notes were introduced. The Reserve Bank of India began banknote production in 1938, issuing ₹2, ₹5, ₹10, ₹50, ₹100, ₹1,000 and ₹10,000 notes while the government continued issuing ₹1 note but demonetized the ₹500 and ₹2 1⁄2 notes.

Post-independence issues[edit]

After independence, new designs were introduced to replace the portrait of George VI. The government continued issuing the Re1 note, while the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued other denominations (including the ₹5,000 and ₹10,000 notes introduced in 1949). All pre-independence banknotes were officially demonetised with effect from 28 April 1957.^[50][51]

During the 1970s, ₹20 and ₹50 notes were introduced; denominations higher than ₹100 were demonetised in 1978. In 1987, the ₹500 note was introduced, followed by the ₹1,000 note in 2000 while ₹1 and ₹2 notes were discontinued in 1995.

The design of banknotes is approved by the central government, on the recommendation of the central board of the Reserve Bank of India.^[5] Currency notes are printed at the Currency Note Press in Nashik, the Bank Note Press in Dewas, the Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (P) Ltd at Salboni and Mysore and at the Watermark Paper Manufacturing Mill in Narmadapuram. The Mahatma Gandhi Series of banknotes are issued by the Reserve Bank of India as legal tender. The series is so named because the obverse of each note features a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. Since its introduction in 1996, this series has replaced all issued banknotes of the Lion Capital Series. The RBI introduced the series in 1996 with ₹10 and ₹500 banknotes. The printing of ₹5 notes (which had stopped earlier) resumed in 2009.

As of January 2012, the new ‘₹‘ sign has been incorporated into banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series in denominations of ₹10, ₹20, ₹50, ₹100, ₹500 and ₹1,000.^{[52][53][54][55]} In January 2014 RBI announced that it would be withdrawing from circulation all currency notes printed prior to 2005 by 31 March 2014. The deadline was later extended to 1 January 2015. The dead line was further extended to 30 June 2016.^[56]

On 8 November 2016, the RBI announced the issuance of new ₹500 and ₹2,000 banknotes in a new series after demonetisation of the older ₹500 and ₹1000 notes. The new ₹2,000 banknote has a magenta base colour, with a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi as well as the Ashoka Pillar Emblem on the front. The denomination also has a motif of the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) on the back, depicting the country’s first venture into interplanetary space. The new ₹500 banknote has a stone grey base colour with an image of the Red Fort along with the Indian flag printed on the back. Both the banknotes also have the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan logo printed on the back. The banknote denominations of ₹200, ₹100 and ₹50 have also been introduced in the new Mahatma Gandhi New Series intended to replace all banknotes of the previous Mahatma Gandhi Series.^[57] On 13 June 2017, RBI introduced new ₹50 notes, but the old ones continue being legal tender. The design is similar to the current notes in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series, except they will come with an inset ‘A’.

On 8 November 2016, the Government of India announced the demonetisation of ₹500 and ₹1,000 banknotes^[58][59] with effect from midnight of the same day, making these notes invalid.^[60] A newly redesigned series of ₹500 banknote, in addition to a new denomination of ₹2,000 banknote is in circulation since 10 November 2016.^[61][62]

From 2017 to 2019, the remaining banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi New Series were released in denominations of ₹10, ₹20, ₹50, ₹100 and ₹200.^[63][64] The ₹1,000 note has been suspended.^[57]

Current circulating banknotes[edit]

As of 26 April 2019, current circulating banknotes are in denominations of₹5, ₹10, ₹20, ₹50 and ₹100 from the Mahatma Gandhi Series and in denominations of ₹10, ₹20,^[65] ₹50, ₹100, ₹200, ₹500 and ₹2,000 from the Mahatma Gandhi New Series.

Current circulating banknotes

Image	Value	Dimensions	Main colour	Description	Date of issue	Circulation
Obverse	Reverse	Obverse	Reverse	Watermark
		₹1	97 mm × 63 mm	Pink	New ₹1 coin	Sagar Samrat oil rig	National Emblem of India	2020	Limited
		₹5	117 mm × 63 mm	Green	Mahatma Gandhi	Tractor	Mahatma Gandhi and electrotype denomination	2002 / 2009	Limited
		₹10	123 mm × 63 mm	Brown	Konark Sun Temple	2017	Wide
		₹20	129 mm × 63 mm	Yellow	Ellora Caves	2019	Wide
		₹50	135 mm × 66 mm	Cyan	Hampi with Chariot	2017	Wide
		₹100	142 mm × 66 mm	Lavender	Rani ki vav	2018	Wide
		₹200	146 mm × 66 mm	Orange	Sanchi Stupa	2017	Wide
		₹500	150 mm × 66 mm	Stone grey	Red Fort	2017	Wide
		₹2000	166 mm × 66 mm	Magenta	Mangalyaan	2016	Wide
For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

Micro printing[edit]

The new Indian banknote series feature a few micro printed texts on various locations. The first one lies on the inner surface of the left temple of Gandhi’s spectacles that reads «भारत» (Bhārata) which means India. The next one (which are printed only on 10 and 50 denominations) is placed on the outer surface of the right temple of Gandhi’s spectacles near his ear and reads «RBI» (Reserve Bank of India) and the face value in numerals «10» or «50». The last one is written on both sides of Gandhi’s collar and reads «भारत» and «INDIA» respectively. Currency notes have 17 languages on the panel which appear on the reverse of the notes.

Convertibility[edit]

Most traded currencies by value
Currency distribution of global foreign exchange market turnover^[66]

Rank	Currency	ISO 4217 code	Symbol or abbreviation	Proportion of daily volume, April 2019	Proportion of daily volume, April 2022
1	United States dollar	USD	$	88.3%	88.5%
2	Euro	EUR	€	32.3%	30.5%
3	Japanese yen	JPY	¥ / 円	16.8%	16.7%
4	Sterling	GBP	£	12.8%	12.9%
5	Renminbi	CNY	¥ / 元	4.3%	7.0%
6	Australian dollar	AUD	A$	6.8%	6.4%
7	Canadian dollar	CAD	C$	5.0%	6.2%
8	Swiss franc	CHF	CHF	5.0%	5.2%
9	Hong Kong dollar	HKD	HK$	3.5%	2.6%
10	Singapore dollar	SGD	S$	1.8%	2.4%
11	Swedish krona	SEK	kr	2.0%	2.2%
12	South Korean won	KRW	₩ / 원	2.0%	1.9%
13	Norwegian krone	NOK	kr	1.8%	1.7%
14	New Zealand dollar	NZD	NZ$	2.1%	1.7%
15	Indian rupee	INR	₹	1.7%	1.6%
16	Mexican peso	MXN	$	1.7%	1.5%
17	New Taiwan dollar	TWD	NT$	0.9%	1.1%
18	South African rand	ZAR	R	1.1%	1.0%
19	Brazilian real	BRL	R$	1.1%	0.9%
20	Danish krone	DKK	kr	0.6%	0.7%
21	Polish złoty	PLN	zł	0.6%	0.7%
22	Thai baht	THB	฿	0.5%	0.4%
23	Israeli new shekel	ILS	₪	0.3%	0.4%
24	Indonesian rupiah	IDR	Rp	0.4%	0.4%
25	Czech koruna	CZK	Kč	0.4%	0.4%
26	UAE dirham	AED	د.إ	0.2%	0.4%
27	Turkish lira	TRY	₺	1.1%	0.4%
28	Hungarian forint	HUF	Ft	0.4%	0.3%
29	Chilean peso	CLP	CLP$	0.3%	0.3%
30	Saudi riyal	SAR	﷼	0.2%	0.2%
31	Philippine peso	PHP	₱	0.3%	0.2%
32	Malaysian ringgit	MYR	RM	0.1%	0.2%
33	Colombian peso	COP	COL$	0.2%	0.2%
34	Russian ruble	RUB	₽	1.1%	0.2%
35	Romanian leu	RON	L	0.1%	0.1%
…	Other		2.2%	2.5%
Total[note 2]	200.0%	200.0%

Officially, the Indian rupee has a market-determined exchange rate. However, the Reserve Bank of India trades actively in the USD/INR currency market to impact effective exchange rates. Thus, the currency regime in place for the Indian rupee with respect to the US dollar is a de facto controlled exchange rate. This is sometimes called a «managed float». On 9 May 2022, Indian Rupee traded at ₹77.41 against the US dollar, hitting an all-time low.^[67] Other rates (such as the EUR/INR and INR/JPY) have the volatility typical of floating exchange rates, and often create persistent arbitrage opportunities against the RBI.^[68] Unlike China, successive administrations (through RBI, the central bank) have not followed a policy of pegging the INR to a specific foreign currency at a particular exchange rate. RBI intervention in currency markets is solely to ensure low volatility in exchange rates, and not to influence the rate (or direction) of the Indian rupee in relation to other currencies.^[69]

Also affecting convertibility is a series of customs regulations restricting the import and export of rupees. Legally, only up to ₹25000 can be imported or exported in cash at a time, and the possession of ₹200 and higher notes in Nepal is prohibited.^[70][71] The conversion of currencies for and from rupees is also regulated.

RBI also exercises a system of capital controls in addition to (through active trading) in currency markets. On the current account, there are no currency-conversion restrictions hindering buying or selling foreign exchange (although trade barriers exist). On the capital account, foreign institutional investors have convertibility to bring money into and out of the country and buy securities (subject to quantitative restrictions). Local firms are able to take capital out of the country to expand globally. However, local households are restricted in their ability to diversify globally. Because of the expansion of the current and capital accounts, India is increasingly moving towards full de facto convertibility.

There is some confusion regarding the interchange of the currency with gold, but the system that India follows is that money cannot be exchanged for gold under any circumstances due to gold’s lack of liquidity;^{[citation needed]} therefore, money cannot be changed into gold by the RBI. India follows the same principle as Great Britain and the US.

Reserve Bank of India clarifies its position regarding the promissory clause printed on each banknote:

«As per Section 26 of Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, the Bank is liable to pay the value of banknote. This is payable on demand by RBI, being the issuer. The Bank’s obligation to pay the value of banknote does not arise out of a contract but out of statutory provisions. The promissory clause printed on the banknotes i.e., «I promise to pay the bearer an amount of X» is a statement which means that the banknote is a legal tender for X amount. The obligation on the part of the Bank is to exchange a banknote for coins of an equivalent amount.»^[72]

Chronology[edit]

• 1991 – India began to lift restrictions on its currency. A number of reforms removed restrictions on current account transactions (including trade, interest payments and remittances and some capital asset-based transactions). Liberalised Exchange Rate Management System (LERMS) (a dual-exchange-rate system) introduced partial convertibility of the rupee in March 1992.^[73]
• 1997 – A panel (set up to explore capital account convertibility) recommended that India move towards full convertibility by 2000, but the timetable was abandoned in the wake of the 1997–1998 East Asian financial crisis.
• 2006 – Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked the Finance Minister and the Reserve Bank of India to prepare a road map for moving towards capital account convertibility.^[74]
• 2016 – the Government of India announced the demonetisation of all ₹500/- and ₹1,000/- banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series.^[75] The government claimed that the action would curtail the shadow economy and crack down on the use of illicit «black money» and counterfeit cash to fund illegal activity and terrorism.^[76][77]

Exchange rates[edit]

Historic exchange rates[edit]

Pre-Independence[edit]

For almost a century following the Great Recoinage of 1816, and adoption of the Gold Standard, until the outbreak of World War I, the silver backed Indian rupee lost value against a basket of Gold pegged currencies, and was periodically devalued to reflect the then current gold to silver reserve ratios, see above. In 1850 the official conversion rate between a pound sterling and the rupee was £0 / 2s / 0d (or £1:₹10), while between 1899 and 1914 the official conversion rate was set low at £0 / 1s / 4d (or £1:₹15), for comparison during this period the US dollar was pegged at £1:$4.79. However, this was just half of market exchange rates during 1893–1917.

The gold/silver ratio expanded during 1870–1910. Unlike India, Britain was on the gold standard. To meet the Home Charges (i.e., expenditure in the United Kingdom) the colonial government had to remit a larger number of rupees and this necessitated increased taxation, unrest and nationalism.

Between the wars the rate improved to 1s 6d (or £1:₹13.33), and remained pegged at this rate for the duration of the Breton Woods agreement, to its devaluation and pegging to the US dollar, at $1:₹7.50, in 1966.^[78][79]

Post-Independence[edit]

Post Independence India followed Par value system of exchange until 1971. The country switched to pegged system in 1971 and graduated to basket peg againstfive major currencies from 1975. After the 1991 Economic liberalisation in India the currency exchange rates became market controlled.^[80]

The first major impact on exchange rate after Independence was the devaluation of sterling against the US dollar in 1949, this impacted currencies that maintained a peg to the sterling, such as the Indian rupee.^[81] The next major episode was in 1966 when Indian rupee was devaluated by 57% against United States dollar. Correspondingly the rates against Pound sterling too suffered depreciation.^[82] In 1971 August, when the Bretton Woods system India initially announced that it will maintain a fixed rate of US$1 = Rs. 7.50 and leave Pound sterling floating.^[83] However, by the end of 1971, following Smithsonian Agreement and subsequent devaluation of United States dollar, India pegged Indian rupee with Pound sterling once again with a rate of £1 = Rs. 18.9677.^[84] In the above period India had a non — commercial exchange rate with Soviet Union. The Ruble — Rupee rates were announced by Soviet Union since Ruble wasn’t a freely traded currency and the commercial trade between both nations use to take place in rupee trade account following the India–Soviet Trade Treaty 1953.

In September 1975, exchange rate of Indian rupee started to be determined on the basis of basket peg. The details of currencies which forms the basket and its weightage were kept confidentially by Reserve Bank of India and the exchange rate of rupee on the basis of market fluctuation of these currencies were periodically announced by RBI.^[85][86]

The next major change that occurred to Indian Rupee was devaluation by about 18% in July 1991 following the Balance of payment crisis.^[87] Thereafter, in March 1992, Liberalized Exchange Rate Management System was introduced.

Indian rupees per currency unit averaged over the year^[88][89]

Currency	ISO code	1947	1966	1995	1996	2000	2004	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Australian dollar	AUD	–	5.33	–	27.69	26.07	33.28	34.02	34.60	36.81	38.22	42.00	56.36	54.91	48.21	49.96	49.91	50.64	50.01	56.30
Bahraini dinar	BHD	–	13.35	91.75	91.24	117.78	120.39	120.40	109.59	115.65	128.60	121.60	155.95	164.55	170.6	178.3	–	169.77
Bangladeshi taka	BDT	–	–	0.84	0.84	0.77	0.66	0.63	0.57	0.71	0.66	0.68	0.80	0.88	0.84	0.85	–	0.76
Canadian dollar	CAD	–	5.90	23.63	26.00	30.28	34.91	41.09	42.92	44.59	52.17	44.39	56.88	49.53	47.94	52.32	50.21	51.38
Renminbi	CNY	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	5.80	–	–	–	9.93	10.19	10.15	–	9.81
Emirate dirham	AED	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	17.47	18.26	17.73	17.80
Euroa	EUR	–	–	42.41	44.40	41.52	56.38	64.12	68.03	60.59	65.69	–	–	70.21	72.60	75.84	73.53	79.52
Israeli shekelb	ILS	13.33	21.97	11.45	10.76	10.83	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	17.08	16.57	17.47	–	18.36
Japanese yenc	JPY	6.6	2.08	32.66	32.96	41.79	41.87	38.93	35.00	42.27	51.73	52.23	60.07	57.79	53.01	62.36	–	56
Kuwaiti dinar	KWD	–	17.80	115.5	114.5	144.9	153.3	155.5	144.6	161.7	167.7	159.2	206.5	214.3	213.1	222.4		211.43
Malaysian ringgit	MYR	1.55	2.07	12.97	14.11	11.84	11.91	12.36	11.98	13.02	13.72	14.22	18.59	18.65	16.47	16.37	–	15.72
Maldivian rufiyaa	MVR	1.00	1.33	2.93	2.91	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4.58	4.76	5.01	5.23	–	4.13
Pakistani rupee	PKR	1.00	1.33	1.08	0.95	0.80	0.77	0.75	0.67	0.61	0.59	0.53	0.57	0.60	0.62	0.64	–	0.57	0.46	0.45
Pound sterling	GBP	13.33	17.76	51.14	55.38	68.11	83.06	80.63	76.38	71.33	83.63	70.63	91.08	100.51	98.11	92.00	83.87	90.37
Russian rubled	RUB	6.60	15.00	7.56	6.69	1.57	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1.05	0.99	–	1.10
Saudi riyal	SAR	–	1.41	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	17.11	17.88	–	17.02
Singapore dollar / Brunei dollare	SGD / BND	1.55	2.07	23.13	25.16	26.07	26.83	30.93	33.60	34.51	41.27	33.58	46.84	45.86	46.67	48.86	–	47.70
Sri Lankan rupee	LKR	–	1.33	0.63	0.64	0.58	–	–	–	–	–	–	0.47	0.46	0.45	0.46	–	0.41	0.39	0.39
Swiss franc	CHF	–	1.46	27.48	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	43.95	66.95	66.71	66.70	68.40	–	65.48
US dollar	USD	3.30	7.50	32.45	35.44	44.20	45.34	43.95	39.50	48.76	45.33	45.00	68.80	66.07	66.73	67.19	65.11	72.10
a Before 1 January 1999, the European Currency Unit (ECU) b Before 1980, the Israeli pound (ILP) c 100 Japanese yen d Before 1993, the Soviet ruble (SUR), in 1995 and 1996 – per 1000 rubles e Before 1967, the Malaya and British Borneo dollar

Current exchange rates[edit]

Current INR exchange rates
From Google Finance:	AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD AED JPY USD
From Yahoo! Finance:	AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD AED JPY USD
From XE.com:	AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD AED JPY USD
From OANDA:	AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD AED JPY USD

Worldwide rupee usage[edit]

As the Straits Settlements were originally an outpost of the British East India Company, the Indian rupee was made the sole official currency of the Straits Settlements in 1837, as it was administered as part of British India. This attempt was resisted by the locals. However, Spanish dollars continued to circulate and 1845 saw the introduction of coinage for the Straits Settlements using a system of 100 cents = 1 dollar, with the dollar equal to the Spanish dollar or Mexican peso. In 1867, administration of the Straits Settlements was separated from India and the Straits dollar was made the standard currency, and attempts to reintroduce the rupee were finally abandoned.^[90]

After the Partition of India, the Pakistani rupee came into existence, initially using Indian coins and Indian currency notes simply overstamped with «Pakistan». Previously the Indian rupee was an official currency of other countries, including Aden, Oman, Dubai, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the Trucial States, Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda, the Seychelles and Mauritius.

The Indian government introduced the Gulf rupee as a replacement for the Indian rupee for circulation outside the country with the Reserve Bank of India (Amendment) Act of 1 May 1959.^[91] The creation of a separate currency was an attempt to reduce the strain on India’s foreign reserves from gold smuggling. After India devalued the rupee on 6 June 1966, those countries still using it – Oman, Qatar, and the Trucial States (which became the United Arab Emirates in 1971) – replaced the Gulf rupee with their own currencies. Kuwait and Bahrain had already done so in 1961 with Kuwaiti dinar and in 1965 with Bahraini dinar, respectively.^[92]

The Bhutanese ngultrum is pegged at par with the Indian rupee; both currencies are accepted in Bhutan. The Nepalese rupee is pegged at ₹0.625; the Indian rupee is accepted in Bhutan and Nepal, except ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series and the ₹200, ₹500 and ₹2,000 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi New Series, which are not legal tender in Bhutan and Nepal and are banned by their respective governments, though accepted by many retailers.^[93] On 29 January 2014, Zimbabwe added the Indian rupee as a legal tender to be used.^[94][95]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]

• A gallery of all Indian currency issues
• «Gallery of Indian Rupee Notes introduced till date». Reserve Bank of India. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
• The banknotes of India (in English and German)

Индия: валюта – курс к доллару

Как и в большинстве других туристических стран, в Индии весьма благосклонно относятся к американской валюте. Доллары США меняются практически везде, причём, по всей стране. Имейте в виду: индийские банки не обналичивают счета (в том числе карточные) долларами, евро и другой иностранной валютой. Снимая в банкомате или получая в отделении банка деньги с долларовой карты, вы получаете на руки всё те же рупии.

Официальный обменный курс на осень 2015 года (сентябрь) составлял 65,77 индийских рупий за 1 американский доллар. В свою очередь, 1 рупия равнялась 0,02 доллара (то есть, за 100 INR можно было купить 2 USD). Информация приведена по данным Центробанка России.

“Опасаетесь валютных мошенников, которых в Индии, увы, немало. Пользуйтесь при обмене услугами банков. Возможно, курс там будет менее выгодным, однако безопасность обмена в таком случае обеспечена на 100%”.

Какую валюту брать в Индию

В принципе, в большинстве индийских городов на рупии можно свободно обменять как американские доллары, так и евроденьги. В то же время, Индию можно отнести к числу тех стран, в которые всё же выгоднее везти USD, а не евро. Обменять североамериканскую валюту можно как в обменных пунктах, которых здесь очень много, так и практически в любом отеле (при этом нужно учесть то, что в уличных «обменниках» курсы обычно выше гостиничных). Кроме того, обмен долларов на рупии по выгодному курсу осуществляют частные ювелирные магазины. При этом вам не стоит опасаться, что такая операция будет незаконной – обмен валюты владельцами ювелирных магазинов в Индии разрешён законодательно.

Индия: валюта к рублю

Ехать в Индию с российской государственной валютой на руках практически бессмысленно. А вот расплатиться рублевой картой или снять с неё деньги в индийском банкомате можно. Правда, нужно при этом помнить, что наличность вы в любом случае получите в рупиях, а комиссии при таких конвертациях довольно высоки, поэтому над целесообразностью подобной операции нужно хорошо подумать. При использовании рублёвой карточки рубли автоматически конвертируются в доллары, а уже доллары – в рупии.

Интересно то, что официальные курсы индийской рупии и рубля практически равны. Так, в частности, в середине сентября 2015 года Центробанком РФ был установлен курс обмена 99,81 INR за 100 RUB. То есть, можно сказать, что теоретически рупия и рубль котируются почти 1 к 1.

Индия: курс валюты

Как узнать, по какому реальному курсу можно поменять доллары или евро на рупии на территории Индии? В сети существует большое множество ресурсов, предлагающих познакомиться с валютными курсами, а также произвести предварительную конвертацию при помощи виртуального калькулятора валют. В частности, на Сравни.ру (раздел «Валюты») вы найдёте актуальный курс обмена индийской рупии на сегодня. Кроме того, вы всегда можете отследить динамику колебания курса рупии по отношению к основным мировым валютам при помощи графиков.

Обмен валюты в Индии

По приезду в Индию постарайтесь отказаться от предложения обменять валюту в пунктах, на которые вам указывает таксист, доставивший вас в отель с аэропорта, первый попавшийся знакомый или администратор в гостинице. Учтите, что поменяете вы деньги по крайне неудобному для вас курсу, а «меняла» впоследствии поделится выручкой с тем, кто привел неопытного туриста на обмен.

Лучше всего совершать обмен валюты в Индии в отделениях местных банков, сертифицированных пунктах обмена или в аэропорту. В страну с собой берите фунты стерлингов или доллары США. Евро здесь меняют неохотно и по более невыгодному курсу, чем привычные для страны валюты мирового уровня.

Курс индийской рупии к основным мировым валютам

На любом конвертере валют вы можете просмотреть курс индийской рупии к основным мировым валютам на конкретный день. К примеру, в апреле 2016 году за одну индийскую рупию давали 0,01 доллар США. При этом в обратном обмене за 1 американский доллар можно было получить только 66, 69 рупий. За 100 индийских рупий по курсу можно приобрести 133,192 евро и 9946,87 российских рублей. При обмене валют в банках страны в обязательном порядке берите с собой загранпаспорт. Часть денежных средств в Индию рекомендуется ввозить на банковских картах. Воспользоваться картами международных платежных систем в крупных городах Индии не составляет большого труда.

Банки Индии

На данный момент банковская система Индии активно развивается. Рынок кредитов, рынок валютных операций, денежный рынок и рынок капитала – основные составные части финансового сектора страны. В последние годы активно развивается и система страхования бизнеса. В Индии активно работают как частные и государственные банковские структуры, так и финансовые учреждения, и банки иностранного происхождения. Развивается в стране и фондовый рынок. Банками Индии сегодня управляет национальный Резервный банк Индии. Именно он определяет ограничения в секторе банковского кредитования, определяет концепцию сотрудничества банков с крупными предприятиями и корпорациями страны. РБИ занимается формированием и развитием кредитно-денежной системы.

Номинал денежных единиц

Индийская рупия выступает в роли официальной денежной единицы в Индии. Ее международный код – 356, аббревиатура – INR. По конвертеру валют всегда можно отследить курс российского рубля к индийской рупии. Основной номинал денежных единиц в стране – 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 и 1000 рупий. Одна рупия равна ста пайсам. Выпускались банкноты в разное время в 90-е годы. В обращении также присутствуют индийские монеты достоинством в 1, 2, 5 и 10 рупий, 5, 10, 20,25 и 50 пайсов. На аверсе банкнот изображены животные, природные ландшафты страны, различные исторические события. При обмене валют старайтесь не принимать у меняющей стороны потертые купюры – с ними сложнее совершать покупки.

Материал и внешний вид денег

Все индийские монеты изготавливаются из стали или алюминия. На каждой монете (вне зависимости от ее достоинства) присутствует герб Индии. У денежных банкнот есть собственный отличительный знак. На аверсе банкнот любого номинала присутствует изображение Махатмы Ганди – одного из величайших индийских деятелей, сумевшего примирить народности в стране без применения силы. Сами купюры отличаются друг от друга по цвету, а также изображению на реверсе купюры. К примеру, на самой большой банкноте номиналом в 1000 рупий изображены символы хозяйства и промышленности Индии, а на самой маленькой достоинством в 5 рупий – человек, который занимается обработкой земельных угодий на восходе солнца.

Особенности индийских рупий

Индийская рупия конвертируется только в ограниченном количестве. Именно по этой причине ее запрещено вывозить из страны. Допускается вывоз индийской национальной валюты только на остров Шри-Ланка, в Бангладеш, Бутан и Непал. Не удивляйтесь, что на поверхности банкнот вы найдете дырки. Проблема в том, что скрепляют их в банке при помощи степлеров. Соответственно, отсутствие дырок на купюре – признак фальшивых денег. Если рупию разорвать, в склеенном виде у вас ее нигде не примут. Банкноту можно будет обменять в сертифицированном пункте обмена, но с определенной комиссией. Деньги в стране считаются олицетворением богини Лакшми – не стоит обращаться с ними чересчур небрежно.

Совет от Сравни.ру: Не рекомендуем без крайней необходимости менять валюту на рупии в аэропорту – курсы там обычно крайне невыгодные. При этом такие обменные пункты можно использовать для «избавления» от лишних рупий в конце путешествия.

В буквальном переводе с древнего санскрита «рупия» — это «чеканное серебро». По сути – серебряная монета. Впервые рупия появилась в виде серебряных монет на территории Индии в 1542 году при Фариде-хан ибн Хасане, легендарном правителе северной Индии, имевшего титулы Шер-хан или Шер-шах. Рупии чеканились из высокопробного серебра и были довольно крупной монетой весом около 11,5 грамм.

Серебряная рупия, выпущенная Шер-шахе, XVI век

С ослаблением централизованной власти и распространением влияния Великобритании над территориями Индии рупии стали выпускаться и Британской Ост-Индской компанией. На протяжении нескольких столетий, когда разные регионы выпускали собственные монеты, на территории Индии имели хождение несколько типов рупий. Уже в XIX веке, в 1835 году рупии были унифицированы. Их стали чеканить с изображением монархов Британской Империи, а с 1861 года право выпуска рупий в виде банкнот было предоставлено исключительно британскому правительству. В 1935 году индийскую рупию начал выпускать основанный в том же году Резервный банк Индии.

Индия, Ост-Индская компания, 1 рупия, 1840 год

Помимо территории Индии, рупия имела хождение и в британских колониях Аравийского полуострова, Восточной Африки и на островах, расположенных в Индийском океане. Также непродолжительное время в начале XIX века в обороте в Австралии находилась индийская рупия. В некоторых азиатских колониях Португалии, Франции, в южных и восточноафриканских владениях Германии и в Итальянском Сомали тоже чеканили рупии. Обладали собственными валютами под названием «рупия» Афганистан и Бутан.

В современном мире рупии в качестве национальной денежной единицы используют стран Азии и два государства Африки: Республика Индия, Исламская Республика Пакистан, Федеративная Демократическая Республика Непал, Республика Индонезия, Демократическая Социалистическая Республика Шри-Ланка, островное государство Маврикий и Республика Сейшельские острова. Расскажем о рупиях каждого из перечисленных государств, приведём примеры современных денежных единиц этих стран и укажем их курс по отношению к российскому рублю.

Индийская рупия

Как уже было сказано выше, Индия является родиной рупии. После обретения Индией независимости в 1947 году на смену британской индийской рупии пришли рупии уже суверенного государства. На сегодняшний день в Индии имеют хождение монеты номиналом 50 пайс (1 пайс составляет 1/100 рупии), 1, 2, 5 и 10 рупий. Монеты 50 пайс принимаются торговыми точками на сумму не более 10 рупий.

Монеты 1 и 2 рупии, Индия, 2009 год

В настоящее время Резервным банком Индии выпускаются банкноты достоинством в 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 и 2000 рупий. Печать банкнот номиналом 5 и 2 рупии прекращена, но они, как и ранее выпущенные купюры достоинством в одну рупию, пока остаются законным средством расчёта. Банкноты номиналом менее 10 рупий в обороте используются крайне редко. На аверсе серии «Махатма Ганди», первые номиналы которой отправились в обращение с 2016 года, размещён портрет наиболее известного индийского политического деятеля середины XX века и главного идеолога движения за независимость Индии. На реверсе купюр напечатаны изображения знаменитых древних индийских построек, а на самой крупной банкноте (2000 рупий) изображена индийская межпланетная автоматическая станция Мангальян, запущенная в космос в 2013 году. Ширина банкнот новой серии варьируются от 63 (купюры 10 и 20 рупий) до 66 мм (все остальные купюры). Длина банкнот – от 123 до 166 мм.

2000 рупий, Индия, 2016 год

В наши дни в отношении национальной денежной единицы Индии используется режим плавающего валютного курса. Стоимость одной рупии колеблется около одного российского рубля.

Пакистанская рупия

Государство Пакистан в его современных границах было основано в 1948 году в результате раздела территории Британской Индии. Несколько месяцев после образования государства имели хождение индийские рупии с надпечаткой «Правительство Пакистана». В том же 1948 году Государственным банком Пакистана начат выпуск пакистанских рупий, и индийские банкноты утратили право хождения на территории Исламской Республики, при этом индийские монеты в качестве оплаты принимались вплоть до 1951 года.

Современная пакистанская рупия, также, как и индийская, делится на 100 пайсов, однако оборотных разменных монет в Пакистане на сегодняшний день нет. В обороте находятся монеты номиналом 1, 2, 5, 10 и 50 рупий. Изредка можно поймать юбилейные 20 рупий.

5 рупий, Пакистан, 2015 год

На аверсе всех оборотных банкнот Пакистана (10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000 и 5000 рупий) расположен портрет политического деятеля середины XX века, основателя пакистанской государственности – Мухаммада Али Джинны. На оборотной стороне – исторические, архитектурные и природные достопримечательности Пакистана.

10 рупий, Пакистан, 2014 год

Стоимость одной пакистанской рупии по отношению к российскому рублю составляет около 45 копеек.

Непальская рупия

В 2008 году, в результате длившегося более 10 лет противостояния между правительственными войсками королевства Непал и Народной непальской армией – вооружёнными формированиями Коммунистической партии Непала, монархия в этой стране была упразднена, а на смену рупиям Королевства Непал, введённых в 1932 году, пришли рупии Федеративной Демократической Республики Непал.

В Республике Непал имеют хождение разменные монеты номиналом 5, 10, 25 и 50 пайс, а также 1, 2, 5 и 10 рупий. Из них основную массу составляют монеты 1 и 2 рупии. Остальные в обороте встречаются намного реже.

1 рупия, Непал, 2007-2009 год

На аверсе всей линейки банкнот (5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 и 1000 рупий) размещено изображение высочайшей гималайской вершины мира – Джомолунгмы или, как называют её в Непале, Сагарматха, которая расположена на границе Республики Непал и Китая, и архитектурные достопримечательности этой страны. На реверсе банкнот изображены животные, которые водятся в этой стране. Ширина всех банкнот одинаковая – 70 мм, длина варьируется от 120 до 172 мм.

5 рупий, Непал, 2017 год

Курс непальской рупии привязан к индийской и составляет 1,6 к 1. Стоимость непальской рупии по отношению к российскому рублю колеблется около 60 копеек.

Индонезийская рупия

Бывшая колония Нидерландов, оккупированная в годы Второй мировой войны Японией, объявила о независимости сразу после капитуляции Японии, однако вскоре после этого начались боевые столкновения с британскими и голландскими вооружёнными силами. Ситуация стабилизировалась к 1949 году, когда Республика Индонезия была признана мировым сообществом. Впервые индонезийская рупия была введена сразу после объявления о независимости в 1945 году, хотя до 1949 года параллельно с ней имели хождение нидерландские деньги и японские оккупационные рупии.

В наши дни в Республике Индонезия в обращении находятся монеты 50, 100, 200, 500 и 1000 рупий и банкноты различных годов выпуска. Стоит отметить, что монеты номиналом менее 100 рупий не чеканят с 2003 года, поэтому 50 рупий встречаются в обороте крайне редко.

1000 рупий, Индонезия, 2010 год

Последняя серия банкнот была выпущена в 2016 году. Её целью является замена банкнот предыдущих серий. Номиналы банкнот серии 2016 года крупные: 1000, 2000, 5000, 10 000, 20 000, 50 000 и 100 000 рупий. На аверсе этих купюр расположены портреты политических деятелей и национальных героев Индонезии XIX-XX веков, на реверсе – виды природы и индонезийцы в национальных одеждах.

5000 рупий, Индонезия, 2016 год

В обороте находятся также и банкноты предыдущих серий аналогичных и более мелких номиналов.

Курс индонезийской рупии нестабилен. Её стоимость относительно российского рубля составляет менее одной копейки.

Шри-ланкийская рупия

Находившееся под властью Португалии, Голландии, а затем Великобритании, это островное государство до 1972 года имело наименование Цейлон. В стране в обороте находятся разменные монеты 1, 2, 5, 10, 25 и 50 центов, монеты номиналов 1, 2, 5 и 10 рупий, а также банкноты 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000 и 5000 рупий. Монеты от одного до десяти центов более не чеканятся, хотя остаются расчётным средством. 25 и 50 центов тоже постепенно уходят из оборота.

1 рупия, Шри-Ланка, 2013 год

Самая новая серия банкнот этого государства (номиналы от 20 до 5000 рупий) выпускается с 2010 года.

1000 рупий, Шри-Ланка, 2018 год

По состоянию на 2020 год, стоимость рупии Шри-Ланки по отношению к российскому рублю составляет около 40 копеек.

Маврикийская рупия

Островное государство в Южной Африке, бывшее колонией сначала Голландии, затем Франции, а с 1810 года – Великобритании, стало независимым в 1968 году. С 1878 года на территории Маврикия имели хождение британские индийские рупии, а с 1934 года на Маврикии начали выпускать и собственные денежные знаки, имевшие хождение наряду с индийскими и равнявшиеся им по курсу.

На Маврикии в обороте находятся разменные монеты достоинством 5 и 20 центов, монеты половина рупии, 1, 5, 10 и 20 рупий, и банкноты 25, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000 и 2000 рупий. Ранее существовала монета и в 1 цент, но она уже давно выведена из обращения.

5 рупий, Маврикий, 2012 год

200 рупий, Маврикий, 2013 год

Соотношение маврикийской рупии и российского рубля составляет примерно два рубля за рупию.

Сейшельская рупия

В восточноафриканской Республике Сейшельские острова, ставшей независимым государством в 1976 году, имеют хождение монеты номиналом 1, 5, 10 и 25 центов (1 сейшельский цент равен 1/100 рупии), 1 и 5 рупий, и банкноты 10, 25, 50, 100 и 500 рупий.

5 рупий, Сейшельские острова, 2010 год

Последняя серия банкнот на Сейшелах была выпущена в 1998-2008 годах. На аверсе этих банкнот размещены представители флоры и фауны этого государства, на реверсе – также флора и фауна, архитектура и виды природы.

50 рупий, Сейшельские острова, 2011 год

Стоимость сейшельской рупии по отношению к российскому рублю составляет около четырёх рублей.

Автор статьи – Михаил Колесов

Какая валюта в Индии, как она называется, как выглядят местные купюры, что на них изображено. История происхождения индийских денег, их курс к доллару, евро и рублю. С какой валютой ехать из России в Индию. Полный обзор на Бробанк.ру.

Какая валюта в Индии

Название национальной индийской валюты не меняется уже несколько столетий, ее наименование — индийская рупия. Кроме Индии эта валюта актуальна и для некоторых других соседних стран. Так, индийскими деньгами можно расплатиться в Бутане и Непале, рупия — параллельная валюта местной.

Рупии — именно национальная валюта Индии, одной их самых крупных стран мира по населению (второе место после Китая). Она зарегистрирована в мировом классификаторе и имеет свои международные обозначения, используемые при совершении валютных операций:

• INR — буквенный код индийской валюты;
• 356 — цифровой код рупии.

Как и другие валюты мира, индийская имеет свой знак. Ее официальный типографский символ — ₹. Он был введен в 2010 году по итогу конкурса на лучший дизайн, в котором мог участвовать любой житель Индии. Победителем стал студент политехнического института в Мумбаи, который получил приз в 250 000 рупий, что по тем временам было эквивалентно 5500 долларов.

У национальной денежной единицы Индии нет разменной валюты. Есть только рупии.

История валюты Индии

Чеканка первых индийских рупий пришлась на середину 17 века. Первые монеты были выполнены из серебра, каждая весила 11,5 граммов. Сто лет внешний вид и качество индийских денег оставались неизменными, пока не настал период колониального английского господства.

В 1671 году Британской Ост-Индской компанией была выпущена новая рупия. Вскоре единое качество монет ушло в прошлое, каждый регион страны выпускал деньги своего вида. Для упорядочения оборота денег была проведена реформа, согласно которой выпускались три типа английских рупий — бомбейские, мадрасские и бенгальские.

В 1835 году начался выпуск единой рупии, которая называлась правительственной. На ней были изображены портреты английских королей. Вскоре были напечатаны первые банкноты местных денег.

Британская индийская рупия стала распространенной валютой, она использовалась во многих британских владениях и была приравнена к фунту стерлингов. Она использовалась на островах Индийского океана, какое-то время была в ходу в Австралии.

Постепенно рупии стали выпускаться в Занзибаре и Бирме, аналогичные деньги появились в португальских, французских, германских и итальянских владениях. В середине 20 века индийская рупия стала валютой Непала, Пакистана, Индонезии, Бутана. Для арабских княжеств Катара и Омана была создана своя рупия.

Индия обрела независимость в 1947 году, но еще долгие годы курс индийской рупии был привязан к фунту стерлингов. С 1949 наблюдалось несколько витков падения рупии. Самым кризисным оказался 1991 год, золотовалютные резервы Индии упали до минимума. Было принято решение уйти с фиксированного курса местной валюты и на плавающий.

Мировой экономический кризис спровоцировал серьезное обесценивание индийской рупии в 2013 году, 1 доллар стоил 68 рупий (в 1947 году курс составлял 4 рупии за доллар). Но этот критический курс еще не был пиком. На момент создания материала средний курс составляет 82 рупии за 1 доллар.

На протяжении существования Индии местная валюта неоднократно подвергалась девальвации из-за обесценивания. Экономическую обстановку в стране нельзя назвать стабильной и спокойной, несмотря на то, что на текущий момент это одна из самых динамично развивающихся стран мира.

В 2016 году в Индии случилась крупная денежная реформа, которая наделала много шума и снизила курс индийской рупии. С целью вывести из тени доходы граждан и спровоцировать переход на безналичные расчеты было резко объявлено о выводе из оборота купюр номиналом в 500 и 1000 рупий. Люди могли поменять их на купюры нового образца или зачислить на банковский счет. Причем все эти операции сверялись с налоговыми декларациями.

Индия — та страна, в которой преобладают наличные расчеты. В результате реформы 85% денег в обороте должны были быть заменены на новые или зачислены на счет. Был расчет, что люди выберут второе, но реформа привела к обратному результату.

В каких еще странах действует рупия

Так как рупия исторически была валютой многих стран, до сих пор в некоторых государствах местные деньги называются точно также. Рупии являются национальной валютой следующих стран:

• Шри-Ланки;
• Бутана и Индии;
• Индонезии;
• Маврикии;
• Непала;
• Пакистана;
• Сейшел.

Но важно понимать, что несмотря на идентичное название, речь идет о разных национальных валютах со своим курсом, со своими банкнотами и монетами. В Бутане и Непале можно расплачиваться как местными рупиями, так и индийскими.

Как выглядят индийские рупии

В Индии в ходу монеты и купюры. Как уже говорилось выше, разменной единицы в стране нет, только рупии. Но так было не всегда. Ранее разменная валюта существовала, она назвалась четвертью рупии, например, ¼, ½, были в ходу анны и ½ анны, пайсы. Последние пайсы были выведены в 2011 году.

Купюры Индии

Рассмотрим, как выглядят купюры Индии последнего образца, введенные в оборот в 2016-2018 годах. На сегодня действуют 7 номиналов, на лицевой стороне каждой банкноты — политический деятель Махатма Ганди, который выступал за независимость Индии от Великобритании.

10 индийских рупий:

20 индийских рупий:

50 индийских рупий:

100 индийских рупий:

200 индийских рупий:

500 индийских рупий:

2000 индийских рупий:

Монеты Индии

Современные индийские монеты были отчеканены в 1950 году, и с этого момента они регулярно обновлялись. В первой серии были отчеканены монеты следующих номиналов: 1/2 рупии, 1/4 рупии, 2 анны, 1 анна, 1/2 анны и 1 пайс.

Далее монеты перевыпускались в 1957, 1964, 1982, 1988, 2004, 2007, 2011 и в 2019 году. Каждый раз они обновлялись, добавлялись новые номиналы, убирались устаревшие.

На сегодня в Индии действуют монеты номиналом в 1, 5, 10 и 20 рупий. Все они выглядят однотипно:

Курс индийской рупии

Курс индийской национальной валюты нельзя назвать стабильным, поэтому его лучше смотреть на данный момент. Информацию можно найти на сайте Центрального Банка Индии. На день создания материала действуют такие курсы:

• 1 доллар США — 81,77 индийский рупий;
• 1 евро — 88,05 индийских рупий;
• 1 рубль — 1,19 рупий.

С какой валютой ехать из России в Индию

Как уже упоминалось выше, Индия — страна, население которой, несмотря на попытки правительства изменить ситуацию, предпочитает пользоваться наличными. Большинство операций совершаются именно так. В целом, можно взять с собой карту Юнионпэй, но не факт, что вы везде сможете ею расплатиться. Дело и в самой системе, и в преимущественности наличных операций.

Что касается валюты, то идеальным вариантом был бы приезд в Индию с местными рупиями, но в России еще нужно найти банк, который продает эту валюту. Бывалые путешественники рекомендуют брать с собой в Индию доллары. Евро тоже можно обменять здесь на местную валюту без проблем, но курс будет менее выгодным.

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Template:Infobox currency

The Indian rupee (Template:Lang-hi) (sign: File:Indian Rupee symbol.svg ; code: INR) is the official currency of the Republic of India. The currency is issued and controlled by the Reserve Bank of India.^[1] During the past 15 years,Template:When the value has ranged from $1 USD = 35–65 INR or 1 euro = 44–69 INR (see below: Convertibility).

The modern rupee is sub-divided into 100 paise (singular paisa). The coins have values and of 5, 10, 20, 25 and 50 paise, as well as 1, 2, 5 and 10 rupees. The bank notes are available in values of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 2000 rupees.

The Indian rupee symbol (File:Indian Rupee symbol.svg) is an amalgam of both the Devanagari consonant «र» (Ra) and the Latin letter «R» without the vertical bar. The design was presented to the public by the government of India on 15 July 2010.^[2]

The current abbreviation «INR» started in July 2010. Until then, the abbreviation «Rs» (or «Re») was used.

Origin of name

The word «rupee» originates from the Sanskrit word रौप्य(raupya) meaning «silver» or «made of silver».^[3] Many Indian languages use this root word, for example, రూపాయి (rūpāyi) in Telugu, ரூபாய் (rūbāi) in Tamil, रुपया (rupayā) in Hindi, રૂપિયો (rupiyo) in Gujarati, ರೂಪಾಯಿ (rūpāyi) in Kannada and Tulu, രൂപ (rūpā) in Malayalam and रुपये (rupaye) in Marathi.

However, in West Bengal, Tripura, Mizoram, Odisha, and Assam, the Indian rupee is officially known by names derived from the Sanskrit word टङ्क (Tanka) which means money.^[4] The rupee is called টাকা (Taka) in Bengali, টকা (tôka) in Assamese and ଟଙ୍କା (Tanka) in Odia and is written as such on Indian banknotes.^[5]

Full name in Verious languages

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Symbol

On March 5, 2009, the Government of India announced a contest to create a symbol for the rupee.^[6][7] During the 2010 Union budget of India, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee mentioned that the proposed symbol would reflect and capture the Indian ethos and culture.^[8] Five symbols were shortlisted,^[9] and the Cabinet selected the definitive symbol created by D. Udaya Kumar on July 15, 2010.^[2] The symbol is derived from a combination of the Devanagari letter ‘र’ and English letter ‘R’. The parallel lines at the top (with white space between them) make an allusion to the tricolor and also depict an equality sign which symbolizes the nation’s desire to reduce economic disparity.^[10] The Indian government has plans to adopt the symbol within six months in the country and globally within 18 to 24 months.^[2][11] Before the adoption of the symbol, the most commonly used symbols for the rupee were Rs, Re or if the text was in an Indian language, then an appropriate abbreviation in that language.

Numeral system

In Indian English, values at or above a hundred thousand Indian rupees are counted in terms of lakhs (one lakh = hundred thousand) and crores (one crore = ten million). For example, the amount File:Indian Rupee symbol.svg3,25,84,729.25 is read as three crores, twenty-five lakhs, eighty-four thousand, seven hundred and twenty-nine rupees and twenty-five paise. The use of million or billion, as is standard in American or British English, is not very common.

History

Use in India

File:Sher shah’s rupee.jpg

File:Indian silver rupee of 1918.JPG

India was one of the earliest issuers of coins (circa 6th century BC). The first «rupee» is believed to have been introduced by Sher Shah Suri (1486–1545), based on a ratio of 40 copper pieces (paisa) per rupee.^[12] Among the earliest issues of paper rupees were those by the Bank of Hindustan (1770–1832), the General Bank of Bengal and Bihar (1773–75, established by Warren Hastings) and the Bengal Bank (1784–91), amongst others. Until 1815, the Madras Presidency also issued a currency based on the fanam, with 12 fanams equal to the rupee.

Historically, the rupee, derived from the Sanskrit word raupya, which means silver, was a silver coin. This had severe consequences in the nineteenth century, when the strongest economies in the world were on the gold standard. The discovery of vast quantities of silver in the U.S. and various European colonies resulted in a decline in the relative value of silver to gold. Suddenly the standard currency of India could not buy as much from the outside world. This event was known as «the fall of the rupee».

India was not affected by the imperial order-in-council of 1825 that attempted to introduce the British sterling coinage to the British colonies. British India at that time was controlled by the British East India Company. The silver rupee continued as the currency of India throughout the entire period of the British Raj and beyond. In 1835, British India set itself firmly upon a mono-metallic silver standard based on the rupee. His decision was influenced by a letter, written in the year 1805, by Lord Liverpool that extolled the virtues of mono-metallism.

Following the Indian Mutiny in 1857, the British government took direct control of British India. Since 1851, gold sovereigns were being produced in large numbers at the Royal Mint branch in Sydney, New South Wales. In the year 1864 in an attempt to make the British gold sovereign become the ‘imperial coin’, the treasuries in Bombay and Calcutta were instructed to receive gold sovereigns. These gold sovereigns however never left the vaults. As was realized in the previous decade in Canada and the next year in Hong Kong, existing habits are not easy to replace. And just as the British government had finally given up any hopes of replacing the rupee in India with the pound sterling, they simultaneously realized, and for the same reasons, that they could not easily replace the silver dollar in the Straits Settlements with the Indian rupee, as had been the desire of the British East India Company.

Since the great silver crisis of 1873, a growing number of nations had been adopting the gold standard. In 1898, following the recommendations of the Indian Currency Committee, British India officially adopted the gold exchange standard by pegging the rupee to the British pound sterling at a fixed value of 1 shilling 4 pence (i.e., 15 rupees = 1 pound). In 1920, the actual silver value of the rupee was increased in value to 2 shillings (10 rupees = 1 pound). In British East Africa at this time, the decision was made to replace the rupee with a florin. No such opportunity was, however, taken in British India.

In 1927, the peg was once more reduced, this time to 18 pence (13⅓ rupees = 1 pound). This peg was maintained until 1966, when the rupee was devalued and pegged to the U.S. dollar at a rate of 7.5 rupees = 1 dollar (at the time, the rupee became equal to 11.4 British pence). This peg lasted until the U.S. dollar devalued in 1971.

The Indian rupee replaced the Danish Indian rupee in 1845, the French Indian rupee in 1954 and the Portuguese Indian escudo in 1961. Following independence in 1947, the Indian rupee replaced all the currencies of the previously autonomous states. Some of these states had issued rupees equal to those issued by the British (such as the Travancore rupee). Other currencies included the Hyderabad rupee and the Kutch kori. The nominal values during British rule (and the first decade of independence) were:

• 1 damidi(pie) = 0.520833 paise
• 1 kani(pice) = 1.5625 paise
• 1 paraka = 3.125 paise
• 1 anna = 6.25 paise (1 Anna)
• 1 beda = 12.5 paise (2 Anna)
• 1 pavala = 25 paise (4 Anna)
• 1 artharupee = 50 paise (8 Anna)
• 1 rupee = 100 paise (16 Anna)

In 1957, decimalisation occurred, and the rupee was divided into 100 naye paise (Hindi for «new paise»). In 1964, the initial «naye» was dropped. Many still refer to 25, 50 and 75 paise as 4, 8 and 12 annas, respectively, not unlike the usage of «bit» in American English for ⅛ dollar.

The rupee on the East African coast and South Arabia

In East Africa, Arabia, and Mesopotamia, the Rupee and its related coins were current at various times. The usage of the Rupee in East Africa extended from Somalia in the north, to as far south as Natal. In Mozambique, the British India rupees were overstamped. In Kenya, the British East Africa Company minted the rupee and its fractions as well as pice. The rise in the price of silver, immediately after the First World War, caused the rupee to rise in value to two shillings sterling. In 1920 in British East Africa, the opportunity was then taken to introduce a new florin coin, hence bringing the currency into line with sterling. Shortly after that, the Florin was split into two East African shillings. This assimilation to sterling did not however happen in British India itself. In Somalia the Italian colonial authority minted ‘rupia’ to exactly the same standard, and called the pice ‘besa’.

The rupee in the Straits Settlements

The Straits Settlements were originally an outlier of the British East India Company. The Spanish dollar had already taken hold in the Straits Settlements by the time the British arrived in the nineteenth century, however, the East India Company tried to introduce the rupee in its place. These attempts were resisted by the locals, and by 1867 when the British government took over direct control of the Straits Settlements from the East India Company, attempts to introduce the rupee were finally abandoned.

International use

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With Partition, the Pakistani rupee came into existence, initially using Indian coins and Indian currency notes simply overstamped with «Pakistan». In previous times, the Indian rupee was an official currency of other countries, including Aden, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the Trucial States, Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda, the Seychelles, and Mauritius.

The Indian government introduced the Gulf rupee, also known as the Persian Gulf rupee (XPGR), as a replacement for the Indian rupee for circulation exclusively outside the country with the Reserve Bank of India [Amendment] Act, 1 May 1959. This creation of a separate currency was an attempt to reduce the strain put on India’s foreign reserves by gold smuggling. After India devalued the rupee on 6 June 1966, those countries still using it – Oman, Qatar, and the Trucial States (which became the United Arab Emirates in 1971) – replaced the Gulf rupee with their own currencies. Kuwait and Bahrain had already done so in 1961 and 1965 respectively.

The Bhutanese ngultrum is pegged at par with the Indian rupee, and both currencies are accepted in Bhutan. The Indian rupee is also accepted in towns in Nepal which lie near the border with India. However, the Indian Rupee denominations of 500 and 1000 are banned in Nepal.

Convertibility

Officially, the Indian rupee has a market-set exchange rate. However, the RBI trades actively in the USD/INR currency market to impact effective exchange rates. Thus, the currency regime in place for the Indian rupee with respect to the US dollar is a de facto controlled exchange rate. This is sometimes called a managed float. Other rates such as the EUR/INR and INR/JPY have volatilities that are typical of floating exchange rates.^[13] It should be noted, however, that unlike China, successive administrations (through RBI, the central bank) have not followed a policy of pegging the INR to a specific foreign currency at a particular exchange rate. RBI intervention in currency markets is solely to deliver low volatility in the exchange rates, and not to take a view on the rate or direction of the Indian rupee in relation to other currencies.^[14]

Also affecting convertibility is a series of customs regulations restricting the import and export of rupees. Legally, foreign nationals are forbidden from importing or exporting rupees, while Indian nationals can import and export only up to 5000 rupees at a time, and the possession of 500 and 1000 rupee notes in Nepal is prohibited.

RBI also exercises a system of capital controls in addition to the intervention (through active trading) in the currency markets. On the current account, there are no currency conversion restrictions hindering buying or selling foreign exchange (though trade barriers do exist). On the capital account, foreign institutional investors have convertibility to bring money in and out of the country and buy securities (subject to certain quantitative restrictions). Local firms are able to take capital out of the country in order to expand globally. But local households are restricted in their ability to do global diversification. However, owing to an enormous expansion of the current account and the capital account, India is increasingly moving towards de facto full convertibility.

There is some confusion regarding the interchange of the currency with gold, but the system that India follows is that money cannot be exchanged for gold, in any circumstances or any situation. Money cannot be changed into gold by the RBI. This is because it will become difficult to handle it. India follows the same gold-interchange principle as Great Britain and America.

Chronology

• 1991 — India began to lift restrictions on its currency. A series of reforms remove restrictions on current account transactions including trade, interest payments & remittances and on some capital assets-based transactions. Liberalized Exchange Rate Management System (LERMS), a dual exchange rate system, introduced a partial convertibility of the Rupee in March 1992.^[15]
• 1997 — A panel set up to explore capital account convertibility recommended India move towards full convertibility by 2000, but timetable abandoned in the wake of the 1997-98 East Asian financial crisis.
• 2006 — The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, asks the Finance Minister and the Reserve Bank of India to prepare a road map for moving towards capital account convertibility.^[16]

References

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Further reading

• Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar: The problem of the rupee: Its origin and its solution (history of indian currency & banking), Chapter 2, Rajagraha, Bombay, 7. Mai 1947

Other websites

• Problem of the Rupee . History of the Rupee till 1923 AD
• Images of historic and modern Indian coins