On 12th April 2023, singer Mika Singh posted a video from his Twitter handle in which he thanked PM Narendra Modi for enabling transactions in the Indian currency at the Doha airport in Qatar. Mika Singh made this video in a shop at the Doha airport.
Mika Singh wrote, “Good morning. I felt so proud to be able to use Indian rupees whilst shopping at the Doha airport in the Louis Vuitton store. You can even use rupees in any restaurant. Isn’t that wonderful? A massive salute to Narendra Modi for enabling us to use our money like dollars.”
Good morning.
— King Mika Singh (@MikaSingh) April 12, 2023
I felt so proud to be able to use Indian rupees whilst shopping at #Dohaairport in the @LouisVuitton store. You can even use rupees in any restaurant.. Isn’t that wonderful? A massive salute to @narendramodi saab for enabling us to use our money like dollars. pic.twitter.com/huhKR2TjU6
In the video attached, he said, “Hello, I am in Doha right now. And it is a very proud moment that using the Indian currency, we can shop. You can buy the things you want by using Indian currency. Thanks to Modi Ji. Salute to you. Because of you, this Indian currency will be accepted in the whole world, like it is accepted in Qatar.”
This is not the only instance when Indians visiting foreign countries have shared on social media about the Indian currency being accepted for transactions abroad. One Arun Deshpande has also shared it from his Twitter handle on 5th April 2023. He wrote, “Payment in Indian rupees for coffee at Dubai airport. Did we ever think we would see this day when Indian rupees are used in regular shops in other countries? Modi hai to mumkin hai”
Payment in Indian rupees for coffee at Dubai airport. Did we ever thought we would see this day when Indian rupees are used in regular shops in other countries? 🙂#ModiHaiTohMumkinHai @ParasKGhelaanii @nrajabpcla @SortedEagle @sureshseshadri1 @Anandi_sanatani @MLDhar4 pic.twitter.com/0AtOam7fWd
— Arun Deshpande 🇮🇳 75🇮🇳 (@ArunDeshpande20) April 5, 2023
In this post, Arun Deshpande shared the Facebook page of one Vynateya Iyengar who wrote about his experience of using the Indian currency at the Dubai airport as he was returning to Bangalore.
Indian rupees are accepted for transactions at airport terminals in the Gulf countries since 2019. In July 2019, Gulf News reported that duty-free shops at all three terminals of Dubai International Airport and at Al Maktoum Airport had started accepting the Indian rupee. Before that, Indians were required to convert the rupee into Dollar, Dirham or Euro to do shopping at Dubai’s duty-free shops. Doha airport in Quatar started accepting the rupee since last year, resulting in the pleasant experience by Mika Singh.
It is notable that in March 2023, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) gave permission to banks from 18 countries to open Special Vostro Rupee Accounts (SVRA) and use Indian rupees to settle payments. The 18 countries are Fiji, Botswana, Guyana, Germany, Kenya, Israel, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, New Zealand, Oman, Russia, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda and the United Kingdom. The banks from these countries operating across the world can now use Indian currency for transactions directly. This is why many Indians who travel to foreign countries have started sharing their experience of using Indian rupees abroad.
The government also provided this information in the parliament. In answer to a query, Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad remarked that banks from these 18 countries will have to approach authorised dealer banks in India, which will seek authorization from the RBI to create such an account following the proper procedure.
The decision was made against the backdrop of the commodities crisis that followed the commencement of the Ukraine war. Local currency trade has been proposed as a remedy to wartime sanctions.
