Mumbai, Feb 2 (IANS): India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves increased by $77.6 million to $295.74 billion for the week ended Jan 27, according to data released by the central bank.

The reserves had decreased by $580.3 million to $295.67 billion for the week ended Jan 18, 2013.

The foreign currency assets (FCA) - the biggest component of the forex reserves - went up by $79.3 million at $261.70 billion, according to the weekly statistical supplement released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The FCA were lower by $646.8 million at $261.62 billion in the previous week.

The central bank said FCA in US dollar terms included the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies held in reserve, such as the pound sterling, euro and yen.

Gold reserves value remained the same at $27.21 billion.

The special drawing rights (SDRs) decreased by $0.5 million to $4.43 billion during the week under review, while reserves with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) went down by $0.2 million to $2.38 billion.

The SDRs had increased by $2.3 million to $4.43 billion during the previous week, while reserves with the IMF had went up by $64.2 million to $2.38 billion.