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Number to Words (Indian & International)

Write any number or rupee amount in words: lakh/crore, million/billion, cheque format

Commas, spaces and a ₹ sign are fine. Decimals and minus numbers work too.
Try an example
Letter case
Indian system
Twelve Lakh Thirty Four Thousand Five Hundred Sixty Seven Point Eight Nine
Indian grouping
12,34,567.89
lakh, crore
International grouping
1,234,567.89
million, billion
Indian system (lakh, crore)
Twelve Lakh Thirty Four Thousand Five Hundred Sixty Seven Point Eight Nine
International system (million, billion)
One Million Two Hundred Thirty Four Thousand Five Hundred Sixty Seven Point Eight Nine
In rupees and paise
Twelve Lakh Thirty Four Thousand Five Hundred Sixty Seven Rupees and Eighty Nine Paise
Cheque format
Rupees Twelve Lakh Thirty Four Thousand Five Hundred Sixty Seven and Eighty Nine Paise Only

How to Use

  1. Type or paste a number or amount. Commas, spaces and a ₹ sign are fine, and you can include paise (e.g. 12,34,567.50).
  2. The number appears straight away in words in the Indian system (lakh, crore), with its digits grouped both the Indian and the international way.
  3. Scroll down for the international wording (million, billion), the amount in rupees and paise, and the cheque format ending in "Only".
  4. Pick a letter case if you need capitals, as some banks prefer on cheques and forms.
  5. Tap copy next to any line to paste it into an invoice, cheque or form.

Indian and international number systems

India groups large numbers differently from most of the world. After the first three digits on the right, the Indian system groups digits in pairs, giving thousand, lakh and crore. The international system groups in threes, giving thousand, million and billion. The same number therefore looks and sounds different:

12,34,567 → Twelve Lakh Thirty Four Thousand Five Hundred Sixty Seven
1,234,567 → One Million Two Hundred Thirty Four Thousand Five Hundred Sixty Seven

Place values side by side

NumberIndianInternational
1,000One thousandOne thousand
1,00,000 (100,000)One lakhOne hundred thousand
10,00,000 (1,000,000)Ten lakhOne million
1,00,00,000 (10,000,000)One croreTen million
1,00,00,00,000 (1,000,000,000)One hundred croreOne billion
1,00,000 crore (1012)One lakh croreOne trillion

Above 99 crore, banks, budgets and newspapers keep counting in crore: "100 crore", "1 lakh crore", "1 crore crore". The older names arab (100 crore) and kharab (100 arab) are rarely used today, so this tool writes large amounts the way the Union Budget does, for example "Fifty Lakh Crore". It spells numbers exactly up to 36 digits, far more than 99 crore crore (99 × 1014), because it works on the digits as text rather than as a rounded computer number.

Writing an amount on a cheque

Banks follow a few simple habits to make the amount in words hard to alter:

  • Start with "Rupees" and end with "Only", e.g. Rupees Twenty Five Thousand Only.
  • Write paise after "and", e.g. Rupees One Thousand Two Hundred and Fifty Paise Only for ₹1,200.50.
  • Begin at the very left of the line and draw a line through any space left over.
  • Make sure the words match the figures. If they differ, the bank may return the cheque.

Example: ₹4,75,250.75 in words is Four Lakh Seventy Five Thousand Two Hundred Fifty Rupees and Seventy Five Paise. On a cheque it becomes Rupees Four Lakh Seventy Five Thousand Two Hundred Fifty and Seventy Five Paise Only.

Decimals and negative numbers

For an ordinary number, digits after the decimal point are read one by one: 3.05 is "Three Point Zero Five". For money, the decimals are paise, rounded to two places (₹2.999 becomes Three Rupees). A minus sign is written as "Minus". Cheques cannot carry negative amounts, so the cheque line is hidden for them.

Some people put "and" inside large numbers ("One Hundred and Five"), which is common in British English. Indian banking usually leaves it out, and so does this tool.

Frequently Asked Questions

1,50,000 is 'One Lakh Fifty Thousand'. As an amount it is 'One Lakh Fifty Thousand Rupees', and on a cheque 'Rupees One Lakh Fifty Thousand Only'. In the international system it is 'One Hundred Fifty Thousand'.

10 lakh make one million (10,00,000 = 1,000,000). One crore is 10 million, and 100 crore is one billion.

Write the rupees, then 'and' and the paise, then 'Only'. For ₹5,250.50 write 'Rupees Five Thousand Two Hundred Fifty and Fifty Paise Only'. Write the figures as 5,250.50 in the amount box.

Traditionally 100 crore is an arab and 100 arab is a kharab, but these words are rarely used now. Today people say 100 crore, 1,000 crore, 1 lakh crore and so on, which is how the government and banks write large amounts.

Because the Indian system names every power of 100 after a thousand: lakh (1,00,000) and crore (1,00,00,000). Grouping in pairs puts a comma before each name, so 12,34,567 reads directly as 12 lakh 34 thousand 567.

Start with 'Rupees' and end with 'Only', for example 'Rupees Ten Thousand Only'. 'Only' marks the end of the amount so nothing can be added after it.