Indian Currency Committee

Indian Currency Committee

The Indian Currency Committee or Fowler Committee was a government committee appointed by the British-run Government of India on 29 April 1898 to examine the currency situation in India. Until 1892, silver was the metal on which Indian currency and coinage had largely been based. In 1892, the Government of India announced its intent to "close Indian mints to silver" and, in 1893, it brought this policy into force. The committee recommended that the official Indian rupee be based on the gold standard and the official exchange rate of the rupee be established at 15 rupees per British sovereign, or 1 shilling and 4 pence per rupee. The British Imperial Government accepted the recommendations of