The Reserve Bank of India reported that gold's share of the country's foreign exchange reserves climbed to 16.7% at the end of March 2026, up from 13.92% at the end of September 2025, according to its half-yearly reserves management report released Thursday.
The central bank said the larger share of gold reflects a rise in the value of bullion held within reserves, while total foreign exchange reserves experienced a modest decline during the same six-month span. India’s aggregate foreign exchange reserves stood at $691.11 billion at end-March 2026, down from $700.09 billion six months earlier.
Data in the report also show that a substantial majority of India’s gold reserves are now stored domestically. The RBI recorded total gold holdings of 880.52 metric tonnes as of end-March 2026, with 680.05 metric tonnes held in domestic vaults.
That domestic share represents a material increase compared with several years earlier. The report notes that over the past two years India has repatriated a sizeable portion of the gold that had previously been held overseas. As of March 2024, less than half of the nation’s gold reserves were stored domestically.
The Reserve Bank framed this change in composition as part of a wider movement among global central banks toward higher allocations to bullion as a component of reserve diversification. The report explicitly links India’s higher gold share to this broader pattern without providing further commentary on policy intent beyond the data.
Outside the bullion allocations, the headline figures indicate a slight contraction in total foreign exchange reserves over the latest reported half year. The RBI’s numbers show reserves falling to $691.11 billion at end-March from $700.09 billion six months earlier, a change reflected in the higher proportional weight of gold within the total reserve mix.
Context and detail: The RBI’s half-yearly reserves management report released Thursday furnishes the data points: gold as 16.7% of reserves at end-March 2026; 880.52 metric tonnes of total gold holdings; and 680.05 metric tonnes held domestically. The report also records the total foreign exchange reserve level of $691.11 billion at end-March 2026, down from $700.09 billion six months earlier.