Indian rupee plunges most in almost 20 years to record low Against the pound, the rupee also fell to a record low, of Rs106.3859 yesterday. Foreign investors sold almost $1bn of Indian shares in the previous eight trading sessions and almost $12bn since the start of June. The Indian government has imposed measures to try to stem the flow of money out of the country, including imposing partial capital controls to limit overseas investments by Indian companies and individuals. These include banning nationals from buying properties overseas. On Tuesday, Indian finance minister P. Chidambaram appealed for calm, talling parliament: "We have done our sums - there is enough money to provide for the food security bill" and meet the deficit target, "which is a red line that will not be breached." India would have to be "patient, be firm, do whatever is required to be done, and the rupee will find its appropriate level." Fears over the crisis in Syria have pushed the oil price higher, above $115-a-barrel yesterday, threatening to push up India's import bill and so worsen its current account deficit. India imports about 80pc of its oil. Deepak Lalwani, director for India at London consultancy Lalcap, said: "The rupee has been the worst performer in Asia since May when the US Fed announced that it may start 'tapering" or slowly withdrawing the monetary stimulus from around October 2013. The fear for India is that erstwhile inflows will dry up as investors start to shun countries with a high current account deficit, a slowing economy and relatively high inflation. India ticks these boxes.