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Rupee, the Indian currency, is all set to have a symbol like the dollar, the pound or the yen.

The five-member jury set up to finalise symbol for the rupee is said to have selected IIT-ian D Udaya Kumar's design, said The Indian Express.

The jury has now recommended the design to the Cabinet for approval, which is likely to take a decision in this matter on Thursday.

'The rupee will retain its Indian character with an international flavour. Kumar's design (in the picture) is an amalgam of the Devanagari 'Ra' and the Roman capital 'R' without the stem, very much in line with what Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had envisioned', the newspaper said.

D Udaya Kumar, who was one of the five finalists whose designs had been shortlisted for final approval, was hopeful of winning the Rupee symbol design contest.

Speaking to rediff.com in January he said that there was an underlying common element in all the five designs that were short-listed. Most of the developed countries have a symbol for their currencies and it is important for a country for India too to have a symbol for the Rupee.

Udaya Kumar's design, said The Indian Expressreport, was based on the Tricolour and 'arithmetic equivalence'. 'While the white space between the two horizontal lines gives the impression of the national flag with the Ashok Chakra, the two bold parallel lines stand for 'equals to', representing balance in the economy, both within and with other economies of the world,' the newspaper reported.

"It was a challenge to design the symbol for the rupee. I made sure that it is simple, easy for a common man to understand, write and recollect," he said.

Thanks - Rediff