And just as the British government had finally given up any hopes of replacing the rupee in India with the pound sterling , they simultaneously realized , and for the same reasons , that they could n't easily replace the silver dollar in the Straits Settlements with the Indian rupee , as had been the desire of the British East India Company . Just as the British government had finally given up any hopes of replacing the rupee in India with the pound sterling , it simultaneously realized , and for the same reasons , that they could not easily replace the silver dollar in the Straits Settlements with the Indian rupee , as had been the desire of the British East India Company .