Indian Currency is the Indian Rupee (Re/Rs). Since you are
not allowed to bring in Indian currency, your best option is
the airport bank. Indian Rupee notes are printed in
denominations of Rs 1000, 500, 100, 50, 20, and 10. The
Rupee is divided into 100 Paise. You will see only 1, 2, 5
Rs coins, though coins below 50 paisa are rarely seen.
You should keep small denominations notes for the small
payments like tips, bus tickets, and meals. When going to a
remote area or small town where encashing of travellers
cheque will be difficult you can take 1000 Rs and 500 Rs
notes, but you should be careful when using them and should
not be confused with 100 Rs.
Travelers cheques
Traveller's Cheques issued by reputable companies (eg Thomas
Cook, American Express) are accepted without difficulty.
Traveler's Cheques exchanged in banks or hotels, and can
only very rarely be used directly for Payment. You need
identification documents like a passport to be shown. Except
in hotels, encashing Traveler's Cheques nearly always takes
up to 30 minutes or longer, So it is worth taking larger
denomination Traveler's Cheques and changing enough to last
for some days. Banks accept both Dollar and sterling. Other
major currency Traveler's Cheques are also accepted in some
larger cities. If you are traveling to remote areas it is
advised that you buy Indian Rupee Traveler's Cheques from a
major bank, as these are more widely accepted than foreign
currency ones.
Credit
cards
Major credit cards are increasingly accepted in the main
centers, though in smaller cities and towns it is still rare
to be able to pay by credit card. Visa and Master Card have
a growing number of ATMs in major cities, but many ATMs only
deal with local account holder. HDFC bank have the facility
of withdrawing money from you overseas account. You can use
their ATM m/s to withdraw money in Indian Rupee, presently
there branches are in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur only in
Rajasthan. Railway Reservation center 17 major cities are
now taking payment for train tickets by visa card which can
be very quick as the queue is very short.
International transfers
Don't run out of money in India unless you have a credit
card against which you can draw traveller's Cheques or cash.
You can also use HDFC ATM facility to withdraw money from
your overseas account, but there is a limit of Rs 15,000 in
a day. Having money transferred through the banking system
can be time consuming. It's usually straightforward if you
use a foreign/private banks elsewhere it may take a
fortnight and will be a hassle.
You can also use Western Union for money transfer and they
are having agents in Rajasthan.
Banks &
foreign exchange dealers
Name of some of the banks dealing in the foreign exchange: