Indian Gold Trade Body Launches New Survey on Gold Consumption

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Indian gold trade body announced launch of nationwide survey of households aimed at analyzing gold consumption trends in the country. The survey was launched by the India Gold Policy Centre- a recently formed joint venture project between the World Gold Council (WGC) and IIM-Ahmedabad.

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The survey will be conducted by the market research agency PRICE. It will cover households across 25 states. The findings of the survey will be submitted to the government to aid in designing future policy measures. It must be noted that all efforts by the government, including gold monetization and gold bond schemes, to unleash gold in Indian households have failed to achieve their goal.

Commenting on the move, Somasundaram PR, managing director (India) of the WGC noted that approximately 25,000 tonnes of gold lay idle in Indian households. At current market price, the value of these gold holdings is estimated at around $1,250 billion, equivalent to over 40% of the country’s GDP last year. The survey intends to provide findings that in turn will help the government in devising new ways to curb rising imports of non-essential commodities.