The share of gold in India’s total foreign exchange reserves rose to 8.15% or $52.2 billion in FY24, an 11-year high. This was on the back of higher purchases and increasing prices of the metal.
After touching 9.2% in FY12, the share fell to 5.1% in FY18 and started rising since FY19.
In fact, central banks of China, Turkey and India have emerged as powerful participants in the global bullion market. India now holds the world’s fourth largest forex reserves after China, Switzerland, and Japan.
At the end of March this year (FY24), the country’s forex reserves were $646 billion, a growth of 11.6% on year. In FY23, the forex reserves dropped to $578 billion from $618 billion in FY22.
The share of foreign currency assets to total forex reserves was 88.4% in FY24.