The official Twitter handle of Indian National Congress tweeted on 2nd May to suggest that Modi government might have secretly transported 200 tonnes of RBI's gold to Switzerland in 2014 and this information is not available in public domain.

The tweet reads:

Did the Modi govt secretly transport 200 tonnes of RBI’s gold to Switzerland in 2014? “What did the government get in return for exchanging the gold? Why is the information about the transaction not available in public domain?”

The tweet includes a report by Congress mouthpiece National Herald which alleges that the Modi government secretly transported 200 tonnes of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) gold reserve overseas immediately after coming to power in May 2014. The report has cited an investigative journalist  Navneet Chaturvedi who reached to this conclusion after filing an RTI seeking information on the existing gold reserves of the RBI last year and through the study of central bank’s annual reports.

The news has spread like fire and is being widely circulated on social media. We received the following image of a paper cutting on Whatsapp whose headline reads "268 tonnes of gold were mortgaged by Modi government".

An infamous Facebook page "Viral In India" which is known for spreading fake news and is being run by Congress IT Cell shared an infographic to abuse PM Modi and claimed that Modi government secretly transferred 230 tonnes of Gold to Switzerland.  

Several Hindi dailies have made a similar claim in the print edition.

RBI Refutes the Claim

On 3rd May RBI issued a press release to clarify that no gold was shifted outside the country in 2014 or thereafter. The press release also states that It is a normal practice for central banks world over to keep their gold reserves overseas with central banks of other countries like Bank of England for safe custody.

Here is the full statement by Chief General Manager of RBI Yogesh Dayal.

We have come across reports in certain sections of the print and social media regarding RBI shifting abroad a part of its gold holding in 2014. It is a normal practice for Central Banks world over, to keep their gold reserves overseas with Central Banks of other countries like Bank of England for safe custody. It is further stated that no gold was shifted by the RBI from India to other countries in 2014 or thereafter. Thus the media reports cited above are factually incorrect.

Yogesh Dayal
Chief General Manager

Conclusion: The media report claiming that Modi govt had secretly transported 200 tonnes of RBI’s gold to Switzerland in 2014 is false.