RBI moves 100 tonnes of gold from London to India; more to be brought in coming years

NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has moved 100 tonnes of the country's gold, which was in the locker at the Bank of England in London, to India. About one-fourth of the gold kept in lockers abroad was brought to India. The sources of RBI hinted that more gold will be moved to India in the coming years.

According to official figures, at the end of March, the RBI had 822.1 tonnes of gold. Of this, 413.8 tonnes are overseas. Only 100.3 tonnes of gold are stored in the lockers in India. Many foreign countries have kept their gold in Bank of England. The Reserve Bank and a major portion of India's overseas gold are also kept there. 100 tonnes of gold from the Bank of England have been moved to India.

The gold was brought to India from London in March. There were months of discussions before moving the gold to India. The gold was brought after a close coordination between the ministry of finance, Reserve Bank of India and various agencies of the government. The gold brought under tight security in a special flight is now kept in the locker of the old office building of the Reserve Bank of India in Mumbai and in Nagpur.

The central government had given some relaxations to move the gold to India. The center completely exempted customs duty. However, there was a no exemption from GST levied on imports. This tax is shared with the states and the center. That is why no tax exemption was given.

In 1991, the Chandrashekhar government pledged gold to overcome the financial crisis. However, as the Indian economy started to strengthen, the Reserve Bank started buying gold and hoarding it. 15 years ago, India bought 200 tonnes of gold from the IMF. After that started collecting gold every year.

Reserve Bank of India had bought 27.5 tonnes of gold in the last financial year. In 2019, India had 618.2 tonnes of gold. In 2023 it increased to 794.6 tonnes and in 2024 to 822.1 tonnes of gold. Reserve Bank of India decided to transfer a large part of its reserves to India as it accumulated abroad. Following this, 100 tonnes of gold was moved to India in the first phase.