New Delhi— India’s gold reserves stood at 879.59 metric tonnes as of March 2025, with more than half—511.99 metric tonnes—held within the country, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced on Monday.
According to the RBI’s Half-Yearly Report on Management of Foreign Exchange Reserves, 348.62 metric tonnes of gold are stored in custody with the Bank of England and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), while 18.98 metric tonnes are maintained as gold deposits.
In value terms, the share of gold in India’s total foreign exchange reserves rose significantly—from 9.32% in September 2024 to 11.70% by the end of March 2025.
The report also noted fluctuations in India’s overall forex reserves, which declined from $705.78 billion in September 2024 to $630.61 billion in January 2025, before recovering to $668.33 billion by the end of March.
From December 2023 to December 2024, India’s external assets grew by $79.7 billion, while external liabilities rose by $76.1 billion.
At the end of March 2025, foreign currency assets (FCA) amounted to $567.56 billion. Of this, $485.53 billion was invested in securities, $45.68 billion was placed with other central banks and the BIS, and $36.34 billion was held in deposits with commercial banks overseas.
The RBI noted that a small portion of these reserves is managed by external asset managers to diversify the portfolio and explore new reserve management strategies.
India’s foreign exchange reserves provided 10.5 months of import cover as of December 2024, down from 11.8 months in September. The ratio of short-term debt (original maturity) to reserves increased to 22%, up from 19.1%, while the ratio of volatile capital flows—including portfolio investments and short-term debt—rose to 74.3% from 67.8%. (Source: IANS)
