Lakh and Crore to Million: How the Indian Numbering System Works

Indian news, property listings and company results quote amounts in lakh and crore. If you're used to thousands, millions and billions, the conversion — and the comma placement — can be confusing.

The units

Digit grouping

The Indian system groups the last three digits, then every two digits: 12,34,56,789. The international system groups every three: 123,456,789. Same number, different commas.

Quick conversions

• Lakh → million: divide by 10. 25 lakh = 2.5 million.
• Crore → million: multiply by 10. 3.2 crore = 32 million.
• Crore → billion: divide by 100. 4,500 crore = 45 billion.

Example: 1,23,45,678 reads as 1 crore 23 lakh 45 thousand 678 — about 12.35 million.

The lakh and crore converter works in both directions: type a number and see it in words, in lakh, in crore, in millions and billions, with both grouping styles.

Common mistakes

• Reading "₹500 crore" as 500 million — it's 5 billion.
• Copying Indian-formatted numbers into spreadsheets set to another locale, which may treat the commas incorrectly. Paste plain digits instead.
• Mixing "lakh" and "lac" — they're the same word.

Working out loan payments in rupees? Use the EMI calculator.