Composition of India's Foreign Exchange Reserves

India's foreign exchange reserves are managed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999. The reserves comprise four components: (1) Foreign Currency Assets (FCA) — the largest component, held in major currencies (USD, EUR, GBP, JPY); (2) Gold Reserves — physical gold held domestically and abroad; (3) Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) — a reserve asset allocated by the International Monetary Fund based on member quotas; and (4) Reserve Tranche Position (RTP) — India's entitlement to draw from the IMF. FCAs are expressed in USD but include assets held in other currencies — so dollar index movements cause valuation fluctuations even without actual transactions.