Value of Gold in India Quadruples in 15 yrs
By siliconindia   |   Monday, 21 November 2011, 16:15 IST
Printer Print Email Email
Value of Gold in India Quadruples in 15 yrs
Bangalore: Gold, the yellow metal has proved to more precious than ever to the middle class families in India with its soaring prices. The soaring prices has never discouraged the Indian women nor the Indian government. With more demand for gold, the Indian government has become the largest importer of gold. The huge demand has led to the quadruples of the value of gold in India in the last 15 years. By dint of being the largest gold importer, all the yellow metal that India shopped for, from around the world, is today valued at Rs 24 lakh crore-nearly twice the budgeted government spending for the current financial year reports Hemali Chhapia for TOI. If you wonder where does India go for shopping for the yellow metal, then Switzerland is one of the major shopping bazaars. Indian gold comes from the land of the Alps. India bought for close to Rs 6 lakh crore in the last decade and a half, has come from the land of the Alps. South Africa and UAE fall in second place. With only three of its gold mines working (Hutti and Uti in Karnataka and the Hirabuddini mines in Jharkand) and producing about 0.5% of the country's annual gold consumption, India's dependence on imports has increased. "With the domestic demand for gold going up, our exports have remained sluggish. So most of the gold caters to local needs," says Prithviraj Kothari, president of the Bombay Bullion Association. With the increase in buying, India has left North America and Europe behined. They had a combined share of 47 percent demand in 1970, which grew to 68 percent by 1980; that share fell to 38 percent in 1990, to 28 percent in 2000 and to 27 percent in 2010. At the eastern end, India and East Asia's share stood at 35 percent in 1970; it was 58 percent in 2010, according to the World Gold Council. The growing local demand for gold in India can be sourced to a variety of factors apart from the fact that gold provides greater liquidity. "The recent fluctuations in the stock market and realty have pushed Indians towards gold investment," says Sanjay Kothari, former president of the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council.