India’s foreign exchange reserves witnessed a notable increase of $31.76 billion from April to September 2025, reaching a total of $700.09 billion. According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) half-yearly report, the share of gold in these reserves rose to 14% from 12% during the same period.
While both the US dollar and euro function as intervention currencies, the Foreign Currency Assets (FCA) are primarily held in major currencies and are reported in US dollar terms. Fluctuations in the FCA typically stem from the RBI’s foreign exchange transactions, revenue generated from managing these reserves, external government aid receipts, and the revaluation of assets.
As of the end of June 2025, the foreign exchange reserves covered imports for 11.4 months, up from 11.0 months in March 2025. The ratio of short-term debt relative to reserves decreased from 20.1% to 19.4% over the same period. Additionally, the proportion of volatile capital flows—including cumulative portfolio inflows and outstanding short-term debt—fell from 69.0% to 66.6%.
As of the end of September 2025, the FCA totaled $579.18 billion, with $489.54 billion allocated to securities, $46.11 billion deposited with other central banks and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), and the remaining $43.53 billion held in deposits with foreign commercial banks.
The RBI maintained a gold reserve of 880.18 metric tonnes as of September 2025, comprising 575.82 metric tonnes held domestically. The remaining gold includes 290.37 metric tonnes stored in safe custody with the Bank of England and the BIS, along with 13.99 metric tonnes held as gold deposits.
Furthermore, on a balance of payments basis, excluding valuation effects, foreign exchange reserves increased by $4.5 billion during April-June 2025, compared to an accretion of $5.2 billion during the same period in 2024. Including valuation effects, reserves rose by $29.8 billion in the same quarter, contrasting with a mere $5.6 billion from the previous year.
This report is published on October 28, 2025.
