changing money in India
 

I have most of the details for my upcoming trip to Delhi & Rajasthan worked out. However I haven't been able to figure out whether it's best to try to buy rupees here in Vancouver before I leave, or in Delhi when I arrive.

And if I am going to be changing money over there, which is easiest to convert: US$ or pounds sterling?

Thanks in advance.

Best to get Rupees at the ATM at Delhi airport and elsewhere rather than trying to convert currency.

It's easy enough to change money once you are there at the airport, but you likely want to get out of the airport as quickly as possible, so it is probably worth to change beforehand.

Assuming you will be met by someone (i.e. travel agent rep, hotel driver etc.), you should have no problem hitting the ATM before you leave the airport.

Its good to have Usd 100 worth of Ind Rs before you arrive in India.
Primarily because if you arrive at an unearthly hr in India,you may need some for any incidental expenditure .Though its easy to change money at the airport, you'll get a better exchange rate in Scheduled banks in Delhi.The business hrs are 10am to 1 pm in most banks.6 days a week.
There are ATM's aplenty.The transaction fee for card withdrawals are high.The present exchange rate is roughly Rs 46 to a U$D.Try avoid touts.Your hotel too will change currency but won't offer you much.

You will get the best rates from LKP Forex Ltd. a firm authorised by the Reserve Bank of India. They have offices all over India (www.lkpindia.com). The one in Jaipur is bang opposite the Palace of wind (Hawa Mahal). They will exchange both forms of currency.It is not advisable to get your money exchanged from the touts, you shall come across, as these people are cheating unwary customers, sometimes by slipping in a counterfeit note or two in a wad of currency.Moreover it feeds the illegal black market. The Hotels are likely to give you very poor rate. BTW the Bank exchange rate for buying currency is INR 43.65 dt. 3rd January.
Hope it helps!

ATM withdrawals from your home account are the best way to get the money...there are atm's in the airport and all over delhi...some machines limit your withdrawal to 4000 rp per transaction....my usual withdrawal was about 10000-15000...some machines would allow this....usually the international bank machines like citibank...

you could bring cash or travelers checks to exchange, but because of poor indian efficiency at banks, etc, i think it might take quite a while to do the transactions...ATM withdrawals are the easiest and quickest...

Thanks all for the info. I had heard that ATMs were few and far between outside of Delhi, but that info could be out of date.

I'm assuming that if there's a foreign exchange in Jaipur, there are ATMs there too. But does anyone know about ATMs in Pushkar? That's where we'll be spending our last 2 days before heading home, and therefore where we're likely to be doing the most shopping.

Pushkar is rather small, for shopping and ATM's. Best when in India to phone your hotel in Pushkar and get the right information.
When changing money, make sure that you get plenty of small notes, as in lots of places they might not have change, (or pretend so!). Happy travels

If you're looking for ATM's in India, you can use this global ATM locator to find ATMs in and around Delhi and Rajasthan.

http://www.fanwithaplan.com/#atm

At the Delhi international airport, there's a government money exchange desk that does not charge any commission and gives you market rate. The best you could ever get. They accept cash or traveler's checks.

It was opened in the wee hour when we first landed in India.

Ack! A new concern!

I was just visiting the official India Ministry of Tourism site, and apparently it's illegal to import or export rupees.

http://www.tourisminindia.com/travel...ancurrency.htm

So although I could probably get away with bringing some in if I'm wearing a money belt, it doesn't seem worth the risk. I'll do the exchange at the airport thing.

I have used travel agents in the past to exchange dollars to rupees legally. Sita Travels in Connaught Place in Delhi are pretty efficient and a reputed agency.

I just got back from India. First $100 may be changed into rupies at the Bank of India directly after passport control at the Delhi airport. It is located on the left side before the exit. They charge no fees. Subsequently ATMs provide the best conversion into rupies, despite the foreign ATM fee charged by most US banks.
Enjoy your trip!