Fund inflows under the Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank), or FCNR (B), deposit scheme reached $132.9 billion by September 10, sources told FE.
The latest figure is $5.7 billion more than the last official figure of $127.2 billion up to August 31, released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The final official tally is likely to be around $133 billion once the central bank publishes the final data. The FCNR(B) window closed on August 31, but banks could use the dollar swap facility offered by the RBI until September 11.
Even as the overwhelming response to the special deposit scheme has boosted forex reserves and helped stabilise the rupee to some extent, inflows have also resulted in a huge rupee liquidity surplus, which currently stands at around Rs 10 lakh crore.
The central bank has been attempting to drain some of this liquidity through various tools. On Friday, the RBI announced the sale of Rs 1 lakh crore of government securities through open market operations to absorb excess liquidity following the mobilisation of FCNR(B) deposits.
The announcement has also indicated that the central bank may resort to further liquidity-tightening measures after assessing the impact of upcoming tax outflows.
Despite a surge in forex reserves, the rupee weakened to 95.96 against the US dollar, tracking the rise in crude oil prices and a strengthening greenback.
India has secured the fourth slot in terms of foreign exchange reserves, surpassing Russia, with reserves valued at $786 billion for the week ended September 4.
Both bank credit and deposit growths sharply accelerated as of August 31, the fortnight during which the FCNR(B) swap window closed. Credit growth rose to 20.1% year-on-year from 18.3% in mid-August, marking the first reading above 20% since March 2024. Outstanding credit increased by Rs 3.80 lakh crore during the fortnight to Rs 223.9 lakh crore.
Deposit growth also picked up significantly to 18.6% from 14.7%, exceeding the 15.4% recorded at July-end and marking the fastest pace since December 2016. Outstanding deposits increased by Rs 9.40 lakh crore to Rs 278.7 lakh crore, largely supported by FCNR(B) mobilisation.