Indian gold reserves

Indian Central Bank gold reserves stood at 350 tonnes at the end of 2008. With the recent purchase from IMF, it would now be in the region of 550 tonnes - taking it to 9th place after Japan. However, India has been and remains the largest importer of gold - with annual imports ranging from 300 tonnes to 600 odd tonnes for private consumption. Barring the time from 1962-1992 when gold imports were barred, India has constantly imported from 1933 to now. Estimates of private holding range from 16000 tonnes to 40,000 tonnes.

In this regard, this, is a very interesting blog post on gold and its history with regard to India. Though long, the post is worth reading to the end.