The Indian government on Thursday approved a new symbol for the Indian rupee - a mix of the Devanagri 'Ra' and Roman 'R.' thus making it the fifth currency in the world to have a distinct identity.

With this, the Indian rupee joins the elite club of US dollar, British pound-sterling, Euro and Japanese yen to have its own symbol.

The new symbol, designed by IIT post-graduate D Uday Kumar, will be printed or embossed on currency notes or coins, information and the country's broadcasting minister Ambika Soni was quoted as saying in the Times of India.

Kumar, whose entry was chosen from among 3,000 designs competing for the currency symbol, will get an award of Rs 2.5 lakh, the report said.

Soni said the government will try that the symbol is adopted within six months in the country and globally within 18 to 24 months. The symbol will feature on computer key boards and softwares so that it can be printed and displayed in electronic and print, she added.

Soni said it would also help in distinguishing the Indian currency from rupee or rupiah of countries like Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

The decision to have a symbol for the Indian rupee was taken by the government last year. The finance ministry wanted the symbol to represent the historical and cultural ethos of the country and called for entries from the public.