India’s foreign exchange reserves surged by $8.053 billion in the week ending January 23, setting a new all-time high of $709.413 billion, as per data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The previous record of $704.89 billion was recorded in September 2024.
The RBI data reveals that the Foreign Currency Assets (FCA), the largest reserve component, rose by $2.367 billion to $562.885 billion during the same week. Additionally, the value of gold in the reserves increased by $5.635 billion to $123.088 billion. Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) saw an uptick of $33 million to $18.737 billion, while the Reserve Position with the IMF rose by $18 million to $4.703 billion.
In the previous week, foreign exchange reserves had climbed by $14.167 billion to touch $701.360 billion. Meanwhile, India continues to lead globally in remittances, with inflows hitting $135.4 billion in FY25, contributing to external account stability, according to the Economic Survey 2025-26.
India’s attractiveness for investments is evident as it received substantial gross investment inflows amounting to 18.5% of GDP in FY25, despite global financial conditions tightening. The country also outpaced its Asian counterparts like Indonesia and Vietnam in gross FDI inflows, ranking fourth worldwide in Greenfield investment announcements in 2024 with over 1,000 projects.
Gross FDI inflows for April-November 2025 stood at $64.7 billion, up from $55.8 billion during the same period in 2024. The reserves are deemed adequate, covering approximately 11 months of goods imports and about 94% of the external debt outstanding as of September 2025, offering a substantial liquidity cushion, as highlighted in the Survey.
