The share of their deposits (net demand and time liabilities) that banks must keep as cash with the RBI, earning no interest.
| Period | Value | Status | Base |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-11-29 | 3.00 | Governor's statement, 6 June 2025 (fourth tranche) | |
| 2025-11-01 | 3.25 | Governor's statement, 6 June 2025 (third tranche) | |
| 2025-10-04 | 3.50 | Governor's statement, 6 June 2025 (second tranche) | |
| 2025-09-06 | 3.75 | Governor's statement, 6 June 2025 (first of four 25 bps tranches, to 3.0%) | |
| 2024-12-28 | 4.00 | MPC statement, 6 December 2024 (second tranche) | |
| 2024-12-14 | 4.25 | MPC statement, 6 December 2024 (first of two 25 bps tranches, to 4.0%) | |
| 2022-05-21 | 4.50 | Governor's statement, 4 May 2022 (off-cycle: CRR raised 50 bps from 4.0%) | |
| 2021-05-22 | 4.00 | Governor's statement, 5 February 2021 (second step) | |
| 2021-03-27 | 3.50 | Governor's statement, 5 February 2021 (first step of the restoration) | |
| 2020-03-28 | 3.00 | Governor's statement, 27 March 2020 (cut 100 bps for a year, COVID-19) | |
| 2013-02-09 | 4.00 | Reuters timeline of changes to the CRR (via Business Standard), February 2013 | |
| 2012-11-03 | 4.25 | Reuters timeline of changes to the CRR (via Business Standard), November 2012 | |
| 2012-09-22 | 4.50 | Reuters timeline of changes to the CRR (via Business Standard), September 2012 | |
| 2012-03-10 | 4.75 | Reuters timeline of changes to the CRR (via Business Standard), March 2012 | |
| 2012-01-28 | 5.50 | Reuters timeline of changes to the CRR (via Business Standard), January 2012 |
CRR is the most direct way the RBI controls how much banks can lend: cut it and banks have more to lend, raise it and they have less. It is also the reserve ratio in the textbook money multiplier.
Each step is entered by hand from the Governor's statements and RBI policy reviews, from January 2012; the 2008–11 steps are not entered. It changes only a few times a year, and the effect on lending depends on how much liquidity the system already has.