INR Stands for Indian National Rupee. The INR was introduced in 1947 before this there was a British Indian rupee and it has been in circulation since the 16th century. The Indian rupee was made of silver at that time but after independence INR was introduced and was issued by the Reserve Bank of India. In 2010 Udaya Kumar configured a new way to represent the rupee replacing Rs with “₹”. The lowest denomination currently is the paisa 100 paisa accounts for 1 rupee you might find 25 paise or 50 paise but it is very rare because RBI has stopped issuing coins of value less than 1 rupee. INR is the official currency of India and it is a common term used in financial transactions and currency exchange all over the world.
Importance of INR:
Due to India’s position as the world’s sixth-largest economy by Nominal GDP charts, INR has become an important currency in the world. Being the world’s largest populous country there is a huge amount of inflow and outflow of money every day. Even some central banks around the world use Inr as a reserve currency. India is a huge market of Information technology and outsourcing industries which makes Inr a key player in the world economy because these markets only deal in INR and proper management is needed to maintain such a huge amount of transactions daily RBI is doing it very well.
Features of INR:
- Legal Tender: The Indian Rupee is widely accepted as payment for goods and services and it is the only currency accepted as payment for government dues.
- Decentralized Issuance: The Reserve Bank of India is responsible for the issuance of currency all over India. However, RBI has authorized some Banks to issue money which makes it decentralized.
- Denomination: The Indian Rupee is denominated in paisa 100 paisa accounts for 1 rupee and you can find a vast range of coins and banknotes of different values so that it is easier for the transaction.
- Foreign Exchange: Indian rupee is a widely used currency all over the world, it is among the top 20 most traded currencies in the world.
History of INR:
The history of the Indian national rupee is long and varied with its origin dating back to the 6th century BC. Here are some important historical events related to Indian Rupee.
- Silver coins: They were first introduced in the 6th century BC as a means of payment and were traded all over India.
- Mughal Era(1526 – 1857): During Mughal rule, they issued gold and silver coins which were used as payment across their kingdoms.
- British Rule: The East India Company gained control over India in the 18th century and introduced their currency British Indian Rupee in 1835 and this was the mode of payment until Independence.
- Independence: In 1947 India gained Independence and created Indian National Rupee that is used currently. In 1957 rupee was decimalized and the paise was introduced as a smaller unit of money.
- Inflation and Devaluation: Over the years rupee has been devalued due to various economical reasons and geopolitical reasons. In the 1970s rupee, was devalued multiple times due to economical reasons.
- Current Value: As of February 28th, 2023, the value of the Indian rupee is approximately 0.0137 USD, 0.0115 EUR, and 0.0099 GBP.
Types of INR:
There are two main types of INR:
- Coins: There are coins issued by RBI of very small value with different visuals imprinted on them. These are made of different metals and one thing common in all of them is RBI imprinted on all of them which marks their authenticity. There are different values of coins one rupee, two rupees, five rupees, and ten rupees.
- Notes: These look like paper but they have tons of unique identification marks which mark their authenticity RBI along with some authorized Banks issue these paper notes with different values ranging from thousands there are One rupee, two rupees, five rupees, ten rupees, twenty rupees, fifty rupees, hundred rupees, five hundred rupees and two thousand rupees earlier we had one thousand rupee note but it was discontinued in 2016.
Security Issues in INR:
RBI has taken a lot of measures to prevent counterfeiting, money laundering, and duplication of currency. To ensure legitimacy and authenticity in transactions the currency issued by RBI has some unique identification marks which are hard to be copied by anyone. The currency notes have watermarks, holograms, security threads, and optically variable ink. RBI also takes the help media to educate people on how to identify fake currency and help the government in stopping these financial crimes. RBI has also instated a financial intelligence unit that monitors all financial transactions and verifies their legitimacy which helps in reducing financial crimes and money laundering.
Conclusion:
INR is an important currency all over the world and is used valiantly in domestic transactions as well as international transactions. RBI has been doing wonderful management of the currency and has taken drastic measures to reduce financial crisis and money laundering. INR is easily understood by financial communities but it is sometimes confused with other abbreviations by people outside financial communities.
FAQs:
Q1. What is the Current exchange rate of INR to other Currencies?
The exchange rate varies depending on market conditions. You can find them using a simple google search. Here is a sample of exchange rates on 9th march 2023 .
1 USD(United States Dollar) = 81.96 INR
1 EUR(Euro) = 86.51 INR
1 CAD(Canadian Dollar) = 59.41 INR
1 AUD(Australian Dollar) = 54.i9 INR
Q2. Can I use INR outside of India?
Every Country has its currency and that is the only currency valid in the country because each country has different prices for the same goods and services. To overcome this problem exchange rates are provided according to which you can convert your currency to any currency of your wish.
Q3. What is the largest Denomination of INR currently?
At present largest denomination is the 2000 rupee which was released in 2016 after the discontinuation of the former 1000 rupee notes.