Mumbai, Aug 4 (IANS): India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves increased by $960.2 million to $280.16 billion for the week ended July 26, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India.

The reserves had declined by $985.4 million to $279.20 billion for the week ended July 19.

The foreign currency assets (FCA) - the biggest component of the forex reserves - grew by $914.1 million at $252.05 billion, the weekly statistical supplement of the central bank shows.

The FCA had plunged by $999.7 million at $251.13 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 remained stagnant at $21.55 billion. The gold reserves had plunged by 1.28 billion in the week ended July 5.

The special drawing rights (SDRs) rose by $30.8 million to $4.37 billion during the week under review, while reserves with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) went up by $15.3 million to $2.18 billion.

The SDRs had increased by $9.5 million to $4.34 billion during the previous week, while reserves with the IMF went up by $4.8 million to $2.16 billion.