How to protect foreign currency like US Dollars in cash when visiting India?

Of course, the best protection of your foreign currency like US dollars, Euros, etc. when traveling to India is for it to remain in your bank in your home country and you are able to do every buying transaction in India using your credit card.

But that won’t happen.

India is going digital but still cash is king there. You certainly would require to have Indian rupees in cash by exchanging foreign currency like US dollars to Indian rupees for the financial transactions. At hotels, restaurants, majority of shops in shopping malls, etc. credit cards are accepted but you will most definitely come across many transactions where you would require to pay in cash.

Having cash in any denomination means having to safeguard it. The steps to protect cash begins before you have landed in India and that is booking a hotel room with a locker.

Now when in India, depending upon your agenda for the day, when moving out of your room for your city travel, tours, shopping, etc., you will carry adequate cash with you and rest can stay in the locker. The challenge will appear in the scenarios where you don’t have locker in your room or when traveling to a different city as a part of your itinerary. Your cash is fully exposed either in your hotel room or in your pocket.
This brings you to an option which is to have an 'optimal' amount of Indian rupees in cash at any given time with you without the need of extra foreign currency in your pocket or in your room’s locker.

How is this possible?

You can avail this option through some of the currency exchangers that allow you to transfer money online directly from your bank in your home country and that you can have with you in India within 4 to 6 hours. You can find some of the money transfer companies specifically for India here: http://www.entryindia.com/exchange_rates. For this online transfer, because the currency exchangers would require you to verify your identity which takes a few days, you are advised to start the process before your travel date to India.

Connect with any of the money transfer companies in your home country and open an account. So, when in India, you can login to your selected service provider site and transfer money online to your nearest agent in India. Keep Sundays and holidays in mind when transfering the money online.