One lakh, or 100,000 rupees, is equal to $1498.21 in American currency. The term “lakh” comes from the Hindi language and can mean 100,000 of anything, although in India it is most often used to refer to enormous amounts of rupees.
India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka all use the lakh as their official currency. Lakh can be either spelled with or without the pluralizing “s” when used in Indian or Pakistani English, making it difficult to tell the two forms apart. Both “five lakh of rupees” and “five million rupees” would be accurate representations of the amount.
