The Hilton-Young Commission of 1926 institutionalised a fixed rupee-sterling exchange rate, embedding India's monetary framework within imperial financial interests rather than domestic economic imperatives — a defining feature of colonial economic governance.
Britain fixed the exchange rate at a level favourable to sterling to protect the value of 'Home Charges' — payments India remitted to Britain for administrative, military, and debt obligations. An overvalued rupee made these remittances cheaper for the Crown while increasing the real burden on Indian taxpayers and exporters.
The Commission prioritised exchange stability to reassure British investors and creditors holding Indian government securities. A predictable rate reduced currency risk for British capital deployed in Indian railways, plantations, and trade, subordinating India's export competitiveness to metropolitan financial confidence.
An artificially high rupee depressed the rupee-denominated earnings of Indian agricultural exporters — cotton, jute, wheat — while making imported British manufactures relatively cheaper, undermining nascent Indian industry. This asymmetry reinforced India's role as a raw-material supplier rather than an industrialising economy.
The Commission's recommendations led to the establishment of the Reserve Bank of India (1935), yet the founding monetary framework retained the sterling-linked exchange architecture, illustrating how institutional reform can coexist with structural continuity in colonial policy.
Colonial currency policy was not a technical monetary choice but a governance instrument serving imperial extraction. Understanding this legacy remains essential for analysing India's post-independence pursuit of monetary sovereignty and export-led development strategy.
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