The RBI said it purchased $31.73 billion and sold $29.66 billion in the spot market. In November, it had sold a net $1.93 billion.

The Indian rupee appreciated by 0.2% against the U.S. dollar in December, and had traded in a range of 82.9050 to 83.4050.

The RBI's net outstanding forward purchase stood at $2.18 billion as of end-December, compared with a net sale of $11.9 billion at the end of the previous month, the data showed.

The central bank intervenes in the spot and forwards market to curb exchange rate volatility. The currency was at 82.9625 to the dollar on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Siddhi Nayak; Editing by Varun H K)