The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has brought 100 metric tonnes of gold reserve from the UK to India. This is one of the biggest movements of gold undertaken by the country since 1991, when pledging a substantial part of the gold holding to tide over a foreign exchange crisis resulted in its movement out of vaults.
Recently, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das revealed the reason behind the move, saying there is enough storage capacity in the country, and nothing more should be read into it. The quantum of gold stored outside was static for a long time, he said on Friday.
"In recent years, the data shows that the Reserve Bank is buying gold as a part of its reserves, and the quantum was going up. We have domestic (storage) capacity," Das said. Therefore, it was decided to move part of the reserve outside India to be stored within the country, he said, adding, "That's it. Nothing more should be read into it".
The country's overall gold holding increased by 27.46 metric tonnes in FY24, and it stands at 822 metric tonnes, as per official data. A substantial part of the precious commodity is stored abroad, the sources said, adding that India also had its holding with the Bank of England like other countries.
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The movement of 100 metric tonnes into India has taken the overall quantity stored locally to over 408 metric tonnes of gold, which means the local and foreign holding is now split almost evenly.
As per the annual report of the central bank for FY24 released last month, over 308 metric tonnes of gold is held in India as backing for notes issued, while another 100.28 tonnes is held locally as an asset of the banking department. Of the overall gold reserves, 413.79 metric tonnes are held abroad, the annual report said.
(With inputs from PTI)
