(MENAFN) India’s central bank has significantly increased the proportion of its gold reserves stored domestically, bringing back approximately 64 tons of the precious metal during the first half of the current financial year (April–September), according to its latest report on foreign exchange reserves.

By the end of September, India’s total gold holdings reached 880.18 metric tons, with 575.82 tons now held within the country. The remainder is stored abroad, with 290.37 tons at international financial institutions and nearly 14 tons as gold deposits.

The country has been steadily moving gold back from overseas over the past year. In October last year, 102 tons were repatriated, followed by another 100 tons in May—one of the largest relocations since the 1990s, according to financial analysts.

A key factor driving the repatriation is the freezing of more than $300 billion in Russian sovereign and private assets by Western nations amid the ongoing Ukraine conflict. Financial experts stress the importance of physical custody of reserves in times of global uncertainty. As one investment firm founder noted, “In this new era, if you don't have custody of your gold, it's not truly yours.”

Investors are increasingly viewing gold as a safer store of value than the US dollar, which has weakened against major currencies this year amid uncertainty over US tariff policies, according to financial observers.

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