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Indian currency (Indian Rupee, INR) in forex

Fact 1 - Foreign exchange transactions in India have become more liberalized with the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) which came into operation as of 1st June 2000. Foreign exchange dealers in India today have been given powers of making all types of remittances in foreign exchange subject to present rules. The previous requirements of seeking Reserve Bank of India permission has been eliminated for most transactions.

Fact 2 - In the early to mid 20th century, the Indian rupee was extensively used as currency in the countries of the Persian Gulf and Arabian Peninsula. To reduce the strain put on India's foreign reserves by gold smuggling caused by this external use of the rupee, a separate currency was created. The Gulf rupee was introduced by the Indian government in 1959 as a replacement for the Indian rupee, for circulation exclusively outside the country [1]. At the time, the Indian rupee was pegged to the British pound at a rate of 13?…“ rupees = 1 pound.

Two states, Kuwait and Bahrain, replaced the Gulf rupee with their own currencies (the Kuwaiti dinar and the Bahraini dinar) after gaining independence from Britain in 1961 and 1965, respectively.

On 6 June 1966, India devalued the rupee. To avoid following this devaluation, several of the states using the rupee adopted their own currencies. Qatar and most of the Trucial States adopted the Qatar and Dubai riyal, whilst Abu Dhabi adopted the Bahraini dinar. Only Oman continued to use the Gulf rupee, until 1970, with the government backing the currency at its old peg to the pound. Oman replaced the Gulf rupee with its own rial in 1970.

Notes were issued in denominations of 1 rupee by the Indian government and 5, 10 and 100 rupees by the Reserve Bank of India. The notes were in designs very similar to the standard Indian notes but were printed in different colours.

Fact 3 - Any money in the form of travellers' cheques, drafts, bills, cheques, etc. in convertible currencies, which tourists wish to convert into Indian currency, should be exchanged only through authorized money changers and banks who will issue an encashment certificate that is required at the time of re-conversion of any unspent money into foreign currency. Exchanging of foreign currency other than banks or authorized money changers is an offense under Foreign Exchange Regulations Act 1973.

Fact 4 - The Indian rupee is the currency of India. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India. The most commonly used symbol for the rupee is Rs. The ISO 4217 code for the Indian rupee is INR. The modern rupee is subdivided into 100 paise (singular paisa).

In most parts of India, the rupee is known as the rupee, roopayi, rupaye, rubai or one of the other terms derived from the Sanskrit rupyakam, raupya meaning silver; rupyakam meaning (coin) of silver. However, in the Bengali, Oriya and Assamese languages, spoken in West Bengal, Tripura, Orissa, and Assam, the rupee is known as a Taka, symbol ?§?, and is written as such on Indian banknotes.

Fact 5 - The Indian Rupee is the original official currency of India. The English translation of "Rupee" is "silver," and the name exists because it was previously a silver coin. This very fact had severe consequences in the 19th 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. Such circumstances led to what is now referred to as "the fall of the Rupee."