The Indian rupee today fell by 21 paise against the dollar in early trade due to strong demand for the US currency from refiners and importers amid the greenback firming against other Asian currencies.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the domestic currency was quoted at 48.37 a dollar, a fall of 21 paise over the previous close. The rupee had lost 4 paise to close at 48.16/17 against the US currency yesterday.