Index: build.xml
===================================================================
--- build.xml	(revision 18359)
+++ build.xml	(working copy)
@@ -467,8 +467,25 @@
                 <include name="org/codehaus/groovy/antlib.xml"/>
             </fileset>
         </copy>
+    	<antcall target="-includeReleaseInfo"/>
     </target>
 
+    <target name="-includeReleaseInfo">
+        <copy file="${mainSourceDirectory}/META-INF/release-info.properties" 
+            todir="${mainClassesDirectory}/META-INF" overwrite="true">
+        </copy>
+    	<tstamp>
+    	    <format property="release.date" pattern="dd-MMM-yyyy"/>
+    	    <format property="release.time" pattern="hh:mm aa"/>
+    	</tstamp>
+        <replace file="${mainClassesDirectory}/META-INF/release-info.properties">
+          <replacefilter token="##ImplementationVersion##" value="${groovyVersion}"/>   
+          <replacefilter token="##BundleVersion##" value="${groovyBundleVersion}"/>
+          <replacefilter token="##BuildDate##" value="${release.date}"/>
+          <replacefilter token="##BuildTime##" value="${release.time}"/>
+        </replace>
+    </target>
+
     <target name="-includeExamplesResources" depends="-includeGroovyDocTemplates">
         <copy todir="${examplesClassesDirectory}">
             <fileset dir="${examplesSourceDirectory}">
Index: src/main/groovy/lang/GroovySystem.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/groovy/lang/GroovySystem.java	(revision 18359)
+++ src/main/groovy/lang/GroovySystem.java	(working copy)
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 import org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.metaclass.MetaClassRegistryImpl;
 import org.codehaus.groovy.util.ReferenceBundle;
+import org.codehaus.groovy.util.ReleaseInfo;
 
 public final class GroovySystem {
     //
@@ -78,4 +79,8 @@
         ReferenceBundle.getSoftBundle().getManager().stopThread();
         ReferenceBundle.getWeakBundle().getManager().stopThread();
     }
+
+    public static String getVersion() {
+        return ReleaseInfo.getVersion();
+    }
 }
Index: src/main/META-INF/release-info.properties
===================================================================
--- src/main/META-INF/release-info.properties	(revision 0)
+++ src/main/META-INF/release-info.properties	(revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+ImplementationVersion=##ImplementationVersion##
+BundleVersion=##BundleVersion##
+BuildDate=##BuildDate##
+BuildTime=##BuildTime##
\ No newline at end of file
Index: src/main/org/codehaus/groovy/runtime/InvokerHelper.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/org/codehaus/groovy/runtime/InvokerHelper.java	(revision 18359)
+++ src/main/org/codehaus/groovy/runtime/InvokerHelper.java	(working copy)
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.typehandling.DefaultTypeTransformation;
 import org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.wrappers.PojoWrapper;
 import org.codehaus.groovy.transform.powerassert.PowerAssertionError;
+import org.codehaus.groovy.util.ReleaseInfo;
 import org.w3c.dom.Element;
 
 import java.beans.Introspector;
@@ -446,17 +447,9 @@
     }
 
     public static String getVersion() {
-        String version = null;
-        Package p = Package.getPackage("groovy.lang");
-        if (p != null) {
-            version = p.getImplementationVersion();
-        }
-        if (version == null) {
-            version = "";
-        }
-        return version;
+        return ReleaseInfo.getVersion();
     }
-
+    
     /**
      * Writes the given object to the given stream
      */
Index: src/main/org/codehaus/groovy/util/ReleaseInfo.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/org/codehaus/groovy/util/ReleaseInfo.java	(revision 0)
+++ src/main/org/codehaus/groovy/util/ReleaseInfo.java	(revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+package org.codehaus.groovy.util;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.util.Properties;
+
+/**
+ * Exposes the Groovy release information 
+ * 
+ * @author Roshan Dawrani
+ */
+public class ReleaseInfo {
+    private static Properties releaseInfo = new Properties();
+    private static String RELEASE_INFO_FILE = "META-INF/release-info.properties";
+    private static String KEY_IMPLEMENTATION_VERSION = "ImplementationVersion";
+    private static String KEY_BUNDLE_VERSION = "BundleVersion";
+    private static String KEY_BUILD_DATE = "BuildDate";
+    private static String KEY_BUILD_TIME = "BuildTime";
+    private static boolean loaded = false;
+
+    public static String getVersion() {
+        return get(KEY_IMPLEMENTATION_VERSION);
+    }
+    
+    public static Properties getAllProperties() {
+        loadInfo();
+        return releaseInfo; 
+    }
+    
+    private static String get(String propName) {
+        loadInfo();
+        String propValue = releaseInfo.getProperty(propName);
+        return (propValue == null ? "" : propValue);
+    }
+    
+    private static void loadInfo() {
+        if(!loaded) {
+            InputStream is = ReleaseInfo.class.getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream(RELEASE_INFO_FILE);
+            if(is != null) {
+                try {
+                    releaseInfo.load(is);
+                } catch(IOException ioex) {
+                    // ignore. In case of some exception, release info is not available
+                }
+            }
+            loaded = true;
+        }
+    }
+}
Index: src/test/groovy/lang/GroovySystemTest.groovy
===================================================================
--- src/test/groovy/lang/GroovySystemTest.groovy	(revision 18359)
+++ src/test/groovy/lang/GroovySystemTest.groovy	(working copy)
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
  * Tests for the GroovySystem class
  *
  * @author Graeme Rocher
+ * @author Roshan Dawrani
  **/
 
 class GroovySystemTest extends GroovyTestCase {
@@ -14,4 +15,8 @@
         assert GroovySystem.metaClassRegistry
         assert GroovySystem.getMetaClassRegistry()
     }
+
+    void testGroovyVersion() {
+        assert GroovySystem.getVersion()
+    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file