by Rohit Kulkarni

Created on: November 09, 2008

The currency of India is the Indian Rupee (INR). It is issued and its circulation is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India. It is subdivided into 100 subunits called the paisa'. In most part of India, it is known as rupiyah or rupaye. The name has its origin in the Sanskrit word raupya meaning silver and from it derived rupyakam, which means a silver coin. Rupee, however, is a currency of many other countries of the Indian sub-continent, to include Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, etc. In India, officially and otherwise, INR is denoted by the term Rs. for any amount more than 1 rupee and Re. for 1 rupee. The smaller unit paisa is denoted by p'.

The first currency in rupees is believed to have been introduced by the Mughal emperor Sher Shah Suri (1486 1545). Until its independence from the British, Indian rupee was available in different forms in different parts of India, then ruled by Great Britain, Portugal and Denmark. After independence, however, the Indian rupee was unified by the Government of India as a single currency for the Republic of India. In the colonial pre-independence era, the Indian rupee was also considered to be the official currency of other countries like Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the Trucial States (present day United Arab Emirates) and Malaysia. It was known as the Gulf Rupee in these areas of the British Empire. With independence, though, Indian rupee was confined to India only, and all these other areas adopted their own currencies. Indian rupee, is however, still accepted in Bhutan and some towns on the Indian side of the Indo-Nepalese border.

Currently, Indian rupee is available only in the denomination of Re.1 and Rs.2 coins and notes ranging from Rs.5 to Rs.1000. Paisa coins valuing 25p and 50p are rarely used. A unique feature of the Indian rupee note is its language panel, which depicts what that denomination is called in 15 of the 22 official national languages of India.

With the recent boom in the Indian economy and trade, and rise in the economic growth, Indian Rupee has grown stronger. Exchange rate of INR to that of other currencies is managed by the floating system' or what is also known as a dirty float, where the market mechanisms of demand and supply determine the rate of INR in relation to other currencies. The Reserve Bank of India, does, however intervene at times by trading the INR with other countries to ensure low volatility in the foreign exchange market for INR.

Typically, US Dollar (US $) as remained at an equivalency of about Rs.47, Great Britain Pound () has been worth about Rs.80 and the Euro () at about Rs.57, however, the rates have been subject to significant fluctuations in recent times.

Disclaimer: Exchange rates mentioned in this article are for information purpose only and should in no way be considered to be standard as exchange rates are subject to fluctuation. No responsibility be taken for any consequence of using these rates or any information provided here for the purpose of Forex trading or any other trading related to Foreign Exchange, and either a profit or a loss being incurred as a result.

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