New Delhi: In a headline that has been recurring for the past year, the rupee opened at a record low of 86.12 against the US dollar on January 13.
Among factors to blame are higher crude oil prices, outflows from foreign investors and the RBI letting the rupee continue its downward slide.
The “86” mark has been called psychologically significant by news media. It comes amidst a general lack of confidence in the Indian economy.
Twelve years ago, in 2013, the rupee had fallen to levels which had been then considered its lifetime low. Headlines focused on the Indian currency hitting a “record low of sub Rs 64-level against the US dollar” and the quick slide of almost 29% in a few months.
As a testament to the political environment of the time, then prime minister, the late Manmohan Singh, gave the people reassurances that the country was not headed for a 1991-style balance of payments crisis.
Criticism was acknowledged (and allowed) and widespread, especially on mainstream media. The Times of India ran the following cartoon on August 27, 2013.
A cartoon on Times of India, on August 27, 2013.
Narendra Modi who had then been a year from prime ministership, had written on X, then called Twitter: “There is a comp[etition] between Congress and the rupee. Who will fall lower, that is the competition.”
“The rupee joke is now on PM Modi,” The Telegraph has written in 2025, with the economy in dire straits and the prime minister entirely silent on it.
ABP News ran a bulletin which appears meaningful now: “Rupee falls to record low: Narendra Modi blames government.”
On January 11, 2025, a popular commentator shared an older speech by Modi’s on X, in which the then Gujarat chief minister blames the ‘Delhi’ – or Union – government for its silence on the economy.
“Fall has been so normalised, it’s not even news anymore,” the commentator, @Nher_who, writes.
For the first time in history Rupee has crossed 86 against a dollar and this man has been our PM for 11 years.
AdvertisementMedia has forgotten the issue.
Celebrities have forgotten their jokes.
Fall has been so normalised, it’s not even a news anymore. pic.twitter.com/BqEZcM1uqL— Nehr_who? (@Nher_who) January 11, 2025
Modi’s were not the only words that have aged badly.
“Rupee at 60. It is mayhem. Close to an economic crisis. But well, the government is silent,” wrote Chetan Bhagat, then at the height of his popularity as a writer. Bhagat has recently been mildly critical of the various popcorn tax slabs that the Goods and Services Tax regime has introduced.
The one person on the receiving end of criticism regarding tax slabs, current finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, wrote a tweet in September 2013 that closely mirrors the predicament she finds most Indians in now:
“Falling rupee adding to burden. Pay more but still fuel on ration. Govt responsible for creating sense of panic. Can govt get away..,” she wrote.
Sitharaman and the rest of the Modi government’s famous silences on almost all issues contrasts with the tone taken by government representatives in 2013. The New York Times said in 2013 of the then finance minister:
“Officials like Finance Minister P. Chidambaram have been assuring the public and investors that the drop in the currency is a temporary phenomenon that has also been witnessed in other countries and that they are working at stabilizing the rupee by addressing issues that affect the inflow of capital.”
Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar wrote on Twitter, “It is refreshing to know that the rupee will get stronger at Rs.40/- per dollar if Modi comes to power.” The rupee, as noted above, has crossed 86 against the dollar in the 11 years that Modi has been in power. Undeterred, Ravi Shankar largely posts glowing reviews of the Modi government’s policies now; one of his latest was on ‘One Nation, One Election’.
Entertainment website ScoopWhoop collated a list of “celebrities” – the article mentioned actors and news personalities – who had then spoken out against the falling rupee. This is a far cry from now, when most leading celebrities are either silent on matters seen as important or seen in direct dalliance with Modi.
“New word added to English dictionary : RUPEED ( ru – pee – d ) , Verb MEANING : move downward,” wrote actor Amitabh Bachchan.
“The only way the Rupee can save itself is by tying a rakhi to the Dollar and saying “meri raksha karna,” posted Juhi Chawla, the actor.
Vivek Agnihotri, who has since made films like The Kashmir Files, wrote, “May ur happiness increase like Petrol Price,May ur sorrow fall like Indian Rupee n May ur joy fill your heart like corruption in India.”
Amidst the anachronistic messages from 2013 was a clear note that Modi’s inevitable arrival will solve the situation at hand.
“There is growing anxiety about the future, but India’s middle class may not have lost faith yet in the possibility of economic regeneration,” The Guardian had said.
