Indian Rupee (INR) Profile

Currency name
Currency code
Currency symbol

Indian rupee symbol

Subunit
1/100,  Paisa; symbol: p
Coins freq used
1 rupee, 2 rupees, 5 rupees, 10 rupees, 50 paise
Coins rarely used
 
Banknotes freq used
5 rupees, 10 rupees, 20 rupees, 50 rupees, 100 rupees, 500 rupees, 1000 rupees
Banknotes rarely used
 
Central bank
Reserve Bank of India (www.rbi.org.in)
Currency users

India, also accepted by Bhutan and Nepal

Currency notes

1. Indian rupee is pegged by Bhutanese ngultrum (BTN) at par
2. Indian rupee is pegged by Nepalese rupee (NPR) at1 INR = 1.6 NPR.
3. Plural of paisa: paise

Currency user list

Indian rupee users

The Indian rupee is the official currency of India (officially the Republic of India), which is a country in South Asia. The Indian rupee is also accepted in Bhutan and Nepal, but if taking it in India, it is better not to use bigger denominations like 500 and 1000 rupees, as they are rarely accepted. The smaller ones like 50 and 100 Indian rupees are much easier to be accepted. The official currencies of Bhutan and Nepal are Bhutanese ngultrum (BTN) and Nepalese rupee (NPR). The Bhutanese ngultrum is pegged with the Indian rupee at par, and the Nepalese rupee is pegged with the Indian rupee at 1 INR = 1.6 NPR.

India became independent from the United Kingdom in 1947 and became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Indian rupee history

The currently circulating Indian rupee was introduced in 1957, which was decimalized based on the old Indian rupee, with a subdivision of 100 naye paise. The naye paisa was renamed simply as paisa (plural: paise) in 1964. The old Indian rupee was subdivided into 16 annas, and an anna was further subdivided into 12 pie. Hence, 1 rupee or 100 paise of the new Indian rupee (INR) was equal to 16 annas of the old Indian rupee, 50 paise equivalent to 8 annas, 25 paise equivalent to 4 annas, and so on. The old Indian rupee was used in India since the middle of the sixteenth century.

The first Indian rupee was said to be issued by Sher Shah Suri during the years 1540-1545 of the Sur Empire, named Rupiya. It was introduced on the silver standard with a subdivision of 16 annas, each of 12 paisa. There were some varieties of Indian rupee between the seventeenth century and the middle of the twentieth century, such as the Danish Indian rupee, French Indian rupee, Portuguese Indian rupia, which were used among the colonies controlled by Denmark, France, and Portugal. There were also some other rupee currencies used by Princely states. The Danish Indian rupee was replaced by the Indian rupee in 1845 when Danish India became part of British India. However, India unified all rupees after independence, firstly the French Indian rupee in 1954, and then the Portuguese India escudo (which replaced the Portuguese India rupia in 1958) in 1961, and eventually, the rest of the rupees being used in some autonomous Princely states.

Indian rupee coins and banknotes

The Indian rupee is subdivided into 100 paise (singular paisa).

Currently in circulation, coins are in denominations of 50 paise, 1 rupee, 2 rupees, 5 rupees, 10 rupees, and banknotes are in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000 rupees.

Indian rupee and the currency of rupee

The first rupee was introduced in the sixteenth century. It is still being used by many countries including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, Indonesia (as the rupiah). It was formerly used in Burma, Afghanistan, and many countries of the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula.

India started to use the rupee since the middle of the sixteenth century.

Countries currently use the rupee as official currency (exchange rate as per: March 1, 2013)
Nations Currency name Currency code 1 USD= 1 EUR= 1 GBP= Notes
Indonesia Indonesian rupiah IDR 9675.00 12592.3 14527.2 The Indonesian rupiah was introduced on 2 January 1949.
India Indian rupee  INR 54.9081 71.4646 82.4457 The Indian rupee started to replace the various rupee currencies used by Indian autonomous states since 1845 and got all replaced by 1961.
Maldives Maldivian rufiyaa MVR 15.400 20.0433 23.1257 The Maldivian rufiyaa was introduced in 1947 with equal value to the rupee.
Mauritius Mauritian rupee MUR 30.930 40.2559 46.4468 The Mauritian rupee was introduced in 1876.
Nepal Nepalese rupee NPR 87.8971 114.404 131.990 The Nepalese rupee was introduced in 1932.
Pakistan Pakistani rupee PKR 98.2574 127.889 147.548 The Pakistan rupee was introduced after the partition from British India in 1947. 
Seychelles Seychelles rupee SCR 12.3732 16.1046 18.5802 The Seychelles rupee was introduced in 1914.
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka rupee LKR 127.429 165.874 191.379 The Sri Lanka Rupee was used since January 1872.

Countries formerly used the rupee as official currency   (exchange rate as per: March 1, 2013)
Nations Currency name Currency code 1 USD= 1 EUR= 1 GBP= Notes
Afghanistan Afghan afghani AFN 51.9798 67.6616 78.0652 The Afghani replaced Rupee in 1925.
Myanmar (Burma) Myanmar(Burma)kyat MMK 861.497 1121.44 1293.72 Myanmar (Burma) Kyat replaced Rupee in 1952 at par.
United Arab Emirates  United Arab Emirates dirham  AED 3.673 4.78127 5.51579 Gulf rupee was used in the United Arab emirates between 1959 and 1966, equivalent to the Indian rupee. 
Bahrain Bahraini dinar BHD 0.37703 0.49075 0.56618 1. Gulf rupee was used in Bahrain between 1959 and 1966, equivalent to the Indian rupee.
2. Bahraini dinar was introduced in 1965, replacing the Gulf rupee at a rate of 1 BHD =10 Gulf rupees. 
Kuwait Kuwaiti dinar KWD 0.28375 0.36934 0.4261 1. Gulf rupee was used in Kuwaiti between1959 and 1961. It was equivalent to the Indian rupee.
2. Kuwaiti dinar was introduced in 1961, replacing the Gulf rupee at 1 dinar = 13⅓ Gulf rupee. 
Oman Omani rial OMR 0.38505 0.50119 0.57822 1. Gulf rupee was used in Oman from 1959 to 1970 and was replaced by Oman rial Saidi at a rate of approximately 1 rial Saidi =21 Gulf rupees.
2. Oman rial was introduced in 1973, replacing the rial Saidi at par.