MUMBAI: The balance-sheet of the Reserve Bank has expanded by a robust 20.6% in FY26 with the total assets jumping by Rs 15.72 trillion to Rs 91.97 trillion as of end-March 2026, helping it make a record payout to the government to the tune of Rs 2.86 trillion, and the gold holding soaring to a 63.8% to 880.5 tonne.
The sharp jump in the balance-sheet was primarily driven by a rise in domestic investments which rose by 44.9%, gold holdings that rose the most by 63.8% and foreign investments rose 7.9%, the Reserve Bank (RBI) said in its annual report for FY26, released Friday.
Last Friday the central board of the monetary authority had finalized the annual report when it had also announced a record Rs 2.865 trillion or 6.5% of the balance-sheet in surplus transfer to the government, while also transferring Rs 1.09 trillion to the contingency fund during the year.
On the record transfer Rs 2,86,588.46 crore to the government by way of surplus transfer for the accounting year 2025-26, the RBI said this was 7% more than what was paid out in the previous year when it paid Rs 2.68 trillion and is marginally higher than the government’s budgeted Rs 2.7 trillion for the year.
On the liabilities side, revaluation accounts recorded the steepest rise of 63.4% during the year under review, the central bank said, adding banknotes issued increased 11.8%, while deposits and other liabilities rose 11.6% and 21.1%, respectively.
The composition of the RBI’s assets also underwent a shift in the year with the share of domestic assets rising to 29.1% of the total assets from 25.7% a year ago and foreign currency assets, gold holdings, loans and advances to financial institutions outside the country together constituted 70.9% of the total assets, down from 74.3% in FY25.
The increase in gold holdings reflects the central bank’s continued diversification of reserves amid global macroeconomic uncertainties and elevated bullion prices, the report said, adding the same has also strengthened its contingency buffers during the year.
As of March 31, 2026, the Reserve Bank held 880.52 tonne of gold, marginally up from 879.58 metric tonne held as of March 31, 2025. During the year, the RBI increased the domestic holding of the yellow metal reserves to 680.05 tonne or 77% of the total, bringing down the overseas Holdings to a low 197.67 tonne which are stored with the Bank of England and the Bank for International Settlements. In FY26 alone, the RBI brought back as much as 168.06 tonne to domestic vaults.
While the central bank transferred a record Rs 1.09 trillion to the contingency fund, which acts as a financial buffer to absorb unexpected contingencies arising from monetary, exchange rate, interest rate and operational risks, no transfer was made to the asset development fund in the year, the report said.
The decision to enhance the fund comes at a time when other central banks are also navigating heightened volatility in financial markets and geopolitical risks.
