Amount in words converter for Indian rupees

How it works

1. Type the amount. Enter it in rupees. Commas, spaces, a leading ₹ or Rs. and a trailing /- are fine, and paise go after a dot.
2. Choose the words. Pick English or Hindi. For English, choose cheque style (Rupees … Only) or plain style (… Rupees Only), in Title Case or UPPER CASE.
3. Check and copy. Compare the figures shown above the words with your amount, then copy the words into your invoice or spreadsheet, or write them on the cheque.

What this does and does not do

Indian numbering: thousand, lakh, crore

Indian numbering groups the last three digits and then pairs of digits, so one lakh is written 1,00,000 and one crore 1,00,00,000. A lakh is a hundred thousand and a crore is a hundred lakh, which is ten million. The table lists the names above a thousand.

From 100 crore up, this converter reads the crore count in full: One Hundred Crore, One Thousand Crore, One Lakh Crore. It does not use arab or kharab, because a kharab (10,000 crore) is easy to mistake for a trillion, which is ten times larger. Hindi output follows the same rule.

Worked examples

Each row below is produced by the same code as the converter, so it matches what you get above.

Writing the amount in words on a cheque

The words carry the legal weight on a cheque. Under section 18 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, if an amount is stated differently in figures and in words, the amount stated in words is the amount undertaken or ordered to be paid.

Bank guides add a few habits that stop a cheque from being altered:

• Start the words at the far left of the line and end with Only, so nothing can follow them (IndusInd Bank, Bank of Baroda).
• Draw a line through any space left on the line, which both banks recommend.
• Make the words match the figures exactly. Bank of Baroda's guide tells customers to check that the two agree.
• Keep the words clear and complete. In a 2020 case reported by SCC Online, a Delhi sessions court held that no section 138 offence was made out because the amount in words was not a certain sum.

For invoices, rule 46 of the CGST Rules lists what a tax invoice must carry. An amount in words is not among the particulars it lists (CBIC text as amended to 1 June 2021), so the rule does not itself require it. Many invoices print it anyway.

This is general information from an independent tool, not legal advice and not a bank or tax service. See the disclaimer.

Use it in Google Sheets

Google Sheets can call a short Apps Script function from any cell. It returns the same cheque-style English words as the converter, and it stops with an error message instead of guessing when an amount has more than two decimals or cannot be read. If a formula leaves extra decimals, wrap it first, for example ROUND(A2, 2).

1. In Google Sheets choose Extensions, then Apps Script.
2. Delete the code that is there, paste the function below and click Save.
3. In a cell type =AMOUNT_IN_WORDS(A2) and press Enter. Steps as in Google's guide to custom functions.

/**
 * Amount in words for Indian rupees, cheque style.
 * Use it as =AMOUNT_IN_WORDS(A2). Check the words against the figures before you use them.
 * @param {number|string} amount The amount in rupees, with at most 2 decimals.
 * @return {string} For example: Rupees One Lakh Twenty Five Thousand Fifty and Fifty Paise Only
 * @customfunction
 */
function AMOUNT_IN_WORDS(amount) {
  var ONES = ["", "One", "Two", "Three", "Four", "Five", "Six", "Seven", "Eight", "Nine", "Ten", "Eleven", "Twelve", "Thirteen", "Fourteen", "Fifteen", "Sixteen", "Seventeen", "Eighteen", "Nineteen"];
  var TENS = ["", "", "Twenty", "Thirty", "Forty", "Fifty", "Sixty", "Seventy", "Eighty", "Ninety"];

  function below100(n) {
    return n < 20 ? ONES[n] : TENS[Math.floor(n / 10)] + (n % 10 ? " " + ONES[n % 10] : "");
  }
  function below1000(n) {
    var hundreds = Math.floor(n / 100);
    var rest = n % 100;
    return (hundreds ? ONES[hundreds] + " Hundred" : "") + (hundreds && rest ? " " : "") + (rest ? below100(rest) : "");
  }
  // Whole rupees: crore, lakh, thousand. The crore count is read in words too (One Hundred Crore).
  function indian(n) {
    if (n === 0) return "Zero";
    var crore = (n - (n % 10000000)) / 10000000;
    var rest = n % 10000000;
    var lakh = Math.floor(rest / 100000);
    var thousand = Math.floor((rest % 100000) / 1000);
    var units = rest % 1000;
    var parts = [];
    if (crore) parts.push(indian(crore) + " Crore");
    if (lakh) parts.push(below100(lakh) + " Lakh");
    if (thousand) parts.push(below100(thousand) + " Thousand");
    if (units) parts.push(below1000(units));
    return parts.join(" ");
  }

  if (Object.prototype.toString.call(amount) === "[object Array]") throw new Error("Pass one cell, not a range.");
  var text;
  if (typeof amount === "number") {
    if (!isFinite(amount) || amount < 0) throw new Error("Enter an amount of zero or more.");
    if (amount >= 10000000000000) throw new Error("That is too large: up to 13 digits before the decimal point.");
    text = amount.toFixed(2);
    if (Math.abs(Number(text) - amount) > 0.000001) throw new Error("Use at most 2 decimals, for example ROUND(A2, 2).");
  } else {
    text = String(amount).replace(/\s/g, "").replace(/^(\u20B9|rs\.?|inr)/i, "").replace(/\/-$/, "");
  }
  var match = /^([\d,]*)(?:\.(\d*))?$/.exec(text);
  if (!match || !/\d/.test(text)) throw new Error("Enter an amount in rupees, for example 125050.50.");
  var whole = match[1];
  var fraction = match[2] || "";
  if (whole.indexOf(",") >= 0 && !/^\d{1,2}(,\d{2})*,\d{3}$/.test(whole) && !/^\d{1,3}(,\d{3})+$/.test(whole)) {
    throw new Error("Check the commas: group digits like 1,23,456 or 1,234,567.");
  }
  if (/[1-9]/.test(fraction.slice(2))) throw new Error("Use at most 2 decimals, for example ROUND(A2, 2).");
  whole = whole.replace(/,/g, "").replace(/^0+(?=\d)/, "");
  if (whole.length > 13) throw new Error("That is too large: up to 13 digits before the decimal point.");
  var paise = Number((fraction + "00").slice(0, 2));
  return "Rupees " + indian(Number(whole || "0")) + (paise ? " and " + below100(paise) + " Paise" : "") + " Only";
}

We do not provide an Excel macro. Convert the figure above and paste the words into the cell.

Sources and method

The figures you type are read as text and turned into whole paise, so no floating-point rounding is involved. The English words are the ones our invoice generator prints. Hindi number names come from the Unicode CLDR rules for Hindi: a table for 0 to 99, then सौ, हज़ार, लाख and करोड़. The wording around them, रुपये, पैसे and मात्र (only), is our own and is not part of CLDR, so compare it with the form you are filling. From 100 crore up, the crore count is read in full (एक सौ करोड़) where CLDR would say अरब or खरब.

• Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, section 18 (text as published by KnowYourGST)
• CGST Rules, 2017, rule 46 on tax invoices (CBIC consolidated text as amended to 1 June 2021)
• Unicode CLDR, Hindi number-name rules (common/rbnf/hi.xml)
• Indian numbering system, Wikipedia
• How to fill out a cheque, Bank of Baroda (10 March 2025)
• How to fill a cheque correctly, IndusInd Bank (updated 22 August 2025)
• Delhi sessions court order on an uncertain amount in words, reported by SCC Online (2020)
• Custom functions in Google Sheets, Google Apps Script guide

Last reviewed 31 October 2026 by Kunal Siyag. How we check facts and log changes: accuracy policy.

FAQ

Amount in words questions