Dollar vs rupee news (as shown in the above graphic) often goes viral, showing one rupee equal to 13 US dollars in 1917 – and another showing one rupee equal to one US dollar in 1947. This is fake news.
NEW DELHI: The above graphic about the great value of the Indian rupee against the mighty US dollar in 1917 often pops up on social media.
This is a great lie!
First, since the dollar vs rupee exchange came into force only after 1947, there was no exchange between the US dollar and the Indian rupee back in 1917.
Before 1947, the Indian rupee was pegged only to the British pound. From 1850 to 1900, the value of one pound was equal to 10 Indian rupees. After that, the pound was pegged at 15 Indian rupees.
Let us now indirectly calculate what was the value of the Indian rupee versus the US dollar in 1917.
In 1900, one pound equalled 4.98 US dollars. It means one US dollar was equal to 2.008 Indian rupees in 1900. In the 1915-1920 period, one pound was equal to roughly about four US dollars. It means that one US dollar was equal to about 3.75 Indian rupees. So it is a big lie that the Indian rupee equalled 13 US dollars in 1917!
There is another lie which says that the Indian rupee was equal to one US dollar in 1947 when India got independence from Britian. That again is a lie.
From 1940 through the Second World War and later, the British pound was equal to 4.03 US dollars till August 15, 1947 when Britain lifted exchange rate controls over the pound. Since one pound was equal to 15 Indian rupees in 1947, it means 4.02 US dollars was equal to 15 Indian rupees. It means one dollar was equal to 3.73 Indian rupees in 1947.
Beware of fake news about dollar vs rupee rates on Indian social media!
