Number to words (Indian and international)
Write a number in words in the Indian system (lakh, crore) or the international one (million, billion), and as rupees and paise for a cheque.
Type a number and press Write in words.
The two systems
India groups large numbers in twos after the first three digits: 12,34,567 is twelve lakh thirty-four thousand five hundred sixty-seven. The international system groups in threes: 1,234,567 is one million two hundred thirty-four thousand five hundred sixty-seven. Both describe the same quantity. The words differ from the ten-thousands upward:
| Digits | Indian | International |
|---|---|---|
| 1,00,000 | one lakh | one hundred thousand |
| 10,00,000 | ten lakh | one million |
| 1,00,00,000 | one crore | ten million |
| 10,00,00,000 | ten crore | one hundred million |
| 1,00,00,00,000 | one arab (one hundred crore) | one billion |
Above a crore, Indian usage in banking and government stays with crore ("one hundred crore", "two thousand crore") rather than arab and kharab, so that is what the Indian option writes.
Worked example
12,34,567.50 as rupees: "Rupees twelve lakh thirty-four thousand five hundred sixty-seven and paise fifty only". As a plain Indian number: "twelve lakh thirty-four thousand five hundred sixty-seven point five zero". International: "one million two hundred thirty-four thousand five hundred sixty-seven point five zero".
Writing a cheque or a challan
- Start with "Rupees", end with "only", and draw a line through the space left over so nothing can be added. Banks compare the words with the figures and the words win if they differ.
- Paise are written as "and paise fifty", or as "and fifty paise"; both are accepted. If there are none, write "only" straight after the rupees.
- Indian banks and forms expect the lakh and crore words. "One million" on an Indian cheque is understood but not conventional; use the rupees option above.
- Hyphens in "thirty-four" and "sixty-seven" are standard English; leaving them out is also accepted everywhere.
Limits
The converter handles whole numbers up to 99,99,99,99,999 and two decimal places. Negative numbers are written with "minus". Numbers typed with commas in either grouping are read correctly; the commas are ignored.