RBI holds 557.75 tonne gold; 20,000 tonne held by public: Government

New Delhi: The Reserve Bank holds 557.75 tonne gold while over 20,000 tonne of the metal is held by the public in the country, Parliament was informed on May 5. "The Reserve Bank of India hold 557.75 tonnes of gold. The government does not maintain the data on gold held by the people in the country," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on May 5.

As per some reports, there is around 20,000 tonne of gold held by the people in the country, he added. Replying to a question about the foreign exchange used to import gold during the last three years, the minister said USD 34.41 billion was used in 2014-15; USD 28.70 billion in 2013-14 and USD 53.82 billion in 2012-13. Further he said that Gold Deposit Scheme was launched by the Government in 1999 with "the aim and objective of mobilising the idle gold in the country".

India, the world's largest consumer of gold, imports around 800-900 tonnes of gold annually. Gold shipments in the country have been steadily rising after the Reserve Bank in November 2014 scrapped the 80:20 rule, under which it was mandatory for traders to export 20 per cent of the import.