Singer Mika Singh at Qatar International Airport.
Singer Mika Singh shared on Twitter on Wednesday that he was able to use Indian currency at Doha airport in Qatar while shopping at a luxury store. He saluted Prime Minister Narendra Modi "for enabling us to use our money like dollars". The tweet was posted in the morning and since then has amassed nearly 1.60 lakh views and over 5,400 likes. Twitter users gave thumbs up to the development, welcoming the move and praising Mika Singh for sharing it online.
"Good morning. 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," Mika Singh said in his tweet.
Users posted a barrage of comments on his tweet.
"Indian currency getting stronger," commented one user. "Power of new India"," tweeted another.
Other users shared a number of emojis expressing their happiness and giving thumbs up to the singer's tweet.
Apart from Qatar, Dubai Duty Free also accepts payments in Indian currency. The new rule kicked in from July 1, 2019, and the currency is accepted at all point of sales in Terminal 1, 2, 3 of Dubai International, as well as at Al Maktoum International airport, as per The National report. However, the customers are given back change in UAE dirhams, not rupees.
In 2022, Business insider posted an article that had a list of countries where Indian currency is accepted. These include Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives and Zimbabwe. Each country, however, has its own rule and cap on the denominations of Indian currency to be used.
In another milestone, India's digital payment technology UPI was recently approved in countries like Thailand and Singapore. Both the countries signed an agreement in February.
It was India's first payment systems linkage that allowed real time cross-border payments, and Singapore's second. Nearly six per cent of all remittances to India come from Singapore.
UPI transactions hit a record high of over 8 billion transactions worth almost Rs 13 lakh crore in January. It is the leading payment system in India.
The government has also taken several other steps to make UPI international. In the same month, the RBI announced that visitors from G-20 countries will be allowed to make UPI payments to shop in India. Last month, the government announced that Indians in 10 other countries would be able to access UPI from April 30.