The Centre on Wednesday dismissed reports claiming that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had sold gold worth $12 billion to shore up the country’s foreign exchange reserves amid geopolitical tensions in West Asia.The clarification came after a media report suggested that the RBI may have reduced a portion of its gold holdings to shield India’s foreign currency reserves from the fallout of the ongoing conflict in the region.Rejecting the claim, the government’s fact-checking arm, the Press Information Bureau (PIB), said the data available with the RBI showed an increase—not a decline—in the share of gold within India’s foreign exchange reserves.“According to RBI, the share of gold in India’s foreign exchange reserves rose from 13.92 per cent at the end of September 2025 to 16.70 per cent on March 31, 2026, and further to 16.85 per cent as of May 22, 2026,” PIB said in a post on social media platform X.A news report published by @Bloomberg states that RBI may have sold gold amounting to approximately USD 12 billion.#PIBFactCheck❌ This claim is FAKE✔️ According to @RBI, the share of gold in India’s foreign exchange reserves rose from 13.92% at end-September 2025 to 16.70%… pic.twitter.com/eVjxPxEv1i— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) June 3, 2026The fact-check directly countered speculation that the central bank had liquidated a significant portion of its gold reserves to support the rupee or bolster foreign-currency assets.Gold has increasingly become a larger component of India’s reserve portfolio in recent years as central banks across the world diversify their holdings amid global economic uncertainty and market volatility.The RBI regularly manages India’s foreign exchange reserves through a mix of foreign currency assets, gold reserves, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), and reserve positions with the International Monetary Fund. The latest figures cited by the PIB indicate that gold continues to account for a growing share of the country’s reserve basket.