The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) shifted a substantial portion of its gold reserves to domestic vaults during the second half of FY26, increasing locally held gold by 104 tonnes, according to its latest half-yearly report on foreign exchange reserves.
Gold held within India rose to 680.05 tonnes as of end-March 2026 from 575.82 tonnes at end-September 2025—an increase of about 104 metric tonnes in six months.
Correspondingly, gold held overseas declined sharply. Holdings with the Bank of England and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) fell to 197.67 tonnes at end-March 2026 from 290.37 metric tonnes six months earlier, while gold deposits dropped to 2.8 tonnes from 13.99 tonnes.
Overall gold holdings remained largely stable at 880.52 tonnes at end-March 2026 compared with 880.18 tonnes at end-September 2025, indicating that the change was primarily a relocation rather than fresh accumulation.
The shift has pushed the share of domestically held gold to over 77% of total reserves from about 65% earlier, underscoring a strategic move towards greater onshore custody of bullion.
In value terms, gold’s share in India’s foreign exchange reserves rose significantly to 16.7% at end-March 2026 from 13.92% at end-September 2025 and 11.7% at end-March 2025, reflecting both valuation gains and portfolio rebalancing.
Meanwhile, India’s overall foreign exchange reserves declined to $691.1 billion at end-March 2026 from $700.1 billion at end-September 2025.
Despite the decline, reserves remain comfortable. Import cover stood at 10.8 months as of end-December 2025, slightly lower than 11.3 months at end-September 2025.
The RBI reiterated that safety and liquidity remain the primary objectives of reserve management, with return optimisation within this framework.
