Mumbai, Sep 22 (IANS): India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves increased by $544.7 million to $275.35 billion, led by healthy rise in core currency assets, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed.

According to the central bank's Weekly Statistical Supplement, the country's total reserve stood at $275.35 billion for the week ended Sep 13, posting a weekly gain of $544.7 million.

The forex reserves had declined by $685.1 million in the previous week.

However, in rupee term, the value of total reserve declined by Rs.514.7 billion to Rs.17,624.9 billion. The decline was because of the appreciation in the value of rupee against major global currencies, especially US dollar, British pound and Euro.

The foreign currency assets, the biggest component of the forex reserves, increased by $500.5 million to $247.24 billion during the week under review.

The foreign currency assets, expressed in the US dollar term, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies held in reserve, such as the pound sterling, euro and yen.

The special drawing rights (SDRs) increased by $30.3 million to $4.38 billion, while reserves with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rose by $13.9 million to $1.99 billion.

The value of India's gold reserves remained unchanged at $21.72 billion during the week under review.