India's central bank sold about $7 billion to defend the rupee last Friday, in what was one of its largest direct interventions in months, according to people familiar with the matter. The Reserve Bank of India intervened across both onshore and offshore markets as the currency approached the record low.

The RBI followed up Friday's intervention with dollar sales over the next two sessions, helping lift the rupee further away from the all-time low. The currency traded at 95.7437 per dollar on Thursday, about 1.3% away from the record low. The magnitude of the dollar sales underscores the RBI's resolve to support the rupee.

The increase in the RBI's dollar sales comes as its recent steps to boost capital flows add to the central bank's foreign currency buffers. RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said banks mobilized $32 billion in response to the measures. India's foreign exchange reserves were at $676.2 billion as of July 17, rising more than $9 billion over three weeks.