What is INR?
The official currency of India, Indian Rupee, is abbreviated as INR and is represented locally as Rs. The currency symbol is ₹.
Background
- The word rupiya finds its origin in Sanskrit.
- But the word ‘Rupaya’ was used for the first time during the reign of Sher Shah Sur, the founder of Sur Empire, in medieval India.
- The Indian Rupee was put into circulation post the partition of India in the year 1947. The smaller denominations of INR were annas back then.
- The Rupee was later decimalized in the year 1961 – one Rupee was made equal to 100 paise.
The currency of India follows the managed float system currently and is not pegged to the US Dollar or any other currency.
Currency values
The banknotes that are in circulation are Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 2000. The Rs. 500 banknotes were removed from circulation post a demonetization drive that happened in 2016.
- Coins in circulation are Rs. 1, Rs. 2, and Rs. 5. Small coins such as 10 paise, 20 paise, 25 paise, 50 paise etc. are nearly out of circulation.
- The Reserve bank of India is tasked with the responsibility of printing all the currency notes and issuing all the coins except for the Re. 1 coins which are issued by the Ministry of Finance.
- The notes are printed in Mysore (Karnataka), Dewas (MP), Salboni (West Bengal) and Nasik (Maharashtra). India Government Mints at Mumbai, Alipore (Kolkata), Saifabad (Hyderabad), Cherlapally (Hyderabad) and Noida (UP).
- The production of the bank notes and coins is managed by the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL).
Economic Prospects of the Indian Currency
- The economic prospect of the INR is currently bullish.
- BofA Securities India has estimated that India could emerge as the third largest economy in the world by 2028. It is already the third largest in terms of Purchasing Power Parity.
- It is believed that with the stronger foreign exchange reserves that the Government of India holds, the increasing FDI into the economy, and softer real lending rates, the INR will become a stronger currency in the future devoid of the risks that it is faced with currently.
