Mumbai— India’s foreign exchange reserves continued their upward trajectory, rising for the eighth consecutive week to reach $688.13 billion as of April 25, according to the latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday.
The reserves rose by $1.98 billion during the week, largely driven by an increase in the foreign currency assets component, which surged by $2.17 billion to $580.66 billion. However, the gold reserves declined by $207 million to $84.37 billion. Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) edged up by $21 million to $18.59 billion.
The recent rise marks a reversal of the declining trend seen in previous months, which was attributed to revaluation effects and RBI interventions aimed at managing rupee volatility in the forex market.
India’s foreign exchange reserves had previously touched an all-time high of $704.88 billion in September 2024.
A robust forex reserve position strengthens the Indian rupee against the US dollar and provides the RBI with greater flexibility to intervene in currency markets to curb volatility. It also reinforces investor confidence by reflecting strong macroeconomic fundamentals.
Meanwhile, India’s external sector performance continues to show resilience. Total exports reached a record high of $824.9 billion in FY 2024–25, marking a 6.01% increase over the previous year’s figure of $778.1 billion, despite ongoing geopolitical tensions and a sluggish global trade environment.
Services exports were a key driver of this growth, climbing to an all-time high of $387.5 billion — a 13.6% rise from $341.1 billion in FY 2023–24. In March 2025 alone, services exports amounted to $35.6 billion, up 18.6% year-on-year from $30 billion in March 2024.
Merchandise exports, excluding petroleum products, also saw record gains, reaching $374.1 billion in FY 2024–25 — a 6% increase from $352.9 billion the previous year — marking the highest-ever annual non-petroleum merchandise export figure.
India’s strong forex position and resilient export performance underscore the country’s economic stability and growing global trade footprint. (Source: IANS)
