Indian rupee symbol is approved

It’s finally official. The Indian rupee is to have its own symbol, a mix of the Devanagri ‘Ra’ and the Roman ‘R’, becoming the fifth currency in the world to have a distinct identity.

The new symbol, designed by Indian Institute of Technology post-graduate D Uday Kumar, was approved by the Union Cabinet on Thursday.

The rupee will join the elite club of the US dollar, the British pound-sterling, the euro and the Japanese yen to have its own symbol.

The symbol will be printed or embossed on currency notes or coins said Information and Broadcasting Minister, Ambika Soni, after the Cabinet meeting.

Soni said the government is taking steps to ensure the symbol will be adopted within six months in India, and globally within 18 to 24 months.

For widespread usage, the new symbol has to be accepted by the Unicode Consortium’s Unicode Technical Committee that is responsible for the development and maintenance of the Unicode Standard, including the Unicode Character Database.

Following the approval, the symbol will then feature on computer keyboards and softwares so that it can be printed and displayed in electronic and print, Soni stated.

The government does not expect any problems as India is a member of the Unicode Consortium and the Unicode Technical Committee is scheduled to meet in October.

Soni said this symbol would help in distinguishing the Indian currency from rupee or rupiah of countries such as Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

Kumar’s entry was chosen from among 3,000 designs competing for the currency symbol. He will get an award of Rs250,000.