{"id":37021,"date":"2025-02-08T19:57:55","date_gmt":"2025-02-08T14:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=37021"},"modified":"2025-08-12T15:09:50","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T09:39:50","slug":"india-gold-investment-surge-60-percent-in-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/08-02-2025\/india-gold-investment-surge-60-percent-in-2024","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s Gold Investments Surge 60% to Rs 1.5 lakh Crore in 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Economy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Gold investments in India surged by 60% in 2024, reaching <strong>$18 billion<\/strong> (approx Rs 1.5 lakh crore), compared to 2023, according to the <strong>World Gold Council (WGC)<\/strong> report.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key highlights of the report<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India\u2019s gold investment demand stood at <strong>239 tonnes in 2024<\/strong>, the highest level since <strong>2013.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This represents a <strong>29% rise<\/strong> from the <strong>185 tonnes<\/strong> recorded in<strong> 2023.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Global gold demand also witnessed an increase of <strong>25%<\/strong>, compared to<strong> 945.5 tonnes in 2023.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The demand is expected to expand further into <strong>gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs)<\/strong> <strong>and mutual funds.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ebecf0\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Key facts related to Gold<\/strong><br>&#8211; Gold accounts for over <strong>5%<\/strong> of<strong> India&#8217;s<\/strong> total imports.<br>&#8211; <strong>Reserves in India: <\/strong>Bihar (44%) followed by Rajasthan (25%), Karnataka (21%), West Bengal (3%), Andhra Pradesh (3% ), and Jharkhand (2%).<br>&#8211; <strong>Reserves in the world: <\/strong>United States of America, Germany, Italy, and France.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Reasons Behind the Surge<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Steady Rise in Gold Prices:<\/strong> The primary factor driving this surge is the consistent increase in gold prices throughout the year.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Investors turned to gold as a hedge against inflation and economic volatility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cultural Demand:<\/strong> Traditional preferences for gold during auspicious occasions like weddings led to higher retail demand and significantly boosted gold purchases.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Urban Buying Trends:<\/strong> Metropolitan cities experienced increased buying activity.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>E-commerce platforms offering rapid delivery of small gold investment bars and coins facilitated ease of investment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Weaker Performance of Other Asset Classes: <\/strong>The domestic stock markets recorded average returns, prompting investors to shift towards gold.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Implications for the Indian Economy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Current Account Deficit (CAD): <\/strong>Higher gold imports can widen India\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/20-09-2022\/current-account-deficit\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/20-09-2022\/current-account-deficit\">current account deficit<\/a>, affecting foreign exchange reserves.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Higher Inflationary Pressures: <\/strong>A surge in gold demand drives up its price, leading to inflationary pressures in the economy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Financial Market Disruptions:<\/strong> A shift of investment towards gold can lead to reduced liquidity in equity markets, affecting stock market performance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Gold Monetization Schemes:<\/strong> Encouraging gold deposits in banks to reduce import dependence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strengthening Gold ETFs and Mutual Funds: <\/strong>Providing tax incentives for digital gold investments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>E-Gold Infrastructure:<\/strong> Expanding the accessibility of digital gold investments through fintech platforms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>World Gold Council (WGC)<\/strong><br>&#8211; WGC is an<strong> international trade association<\/strong> for the gold industry <strong>formed in 1987<\/strong> by some of the world\u2019s most forward-thinking mining companies.<br>&#8211; <strong>Governance: <\/strong>The World Gold Council is governed by the Board of Directors, composed of member company representatives (Chairperson or Chief Executive Officer) and the World Gold Council\u2019s Chief Executive Officer.&nbsp;<br>&#8211; <strong>Members:<\/strong> The World Gold Council\u2019s <strong>32 Members.<\/strong><br>&#8211; It is <strong>headquartered in London <\/strong>and has offices in India, China, Singapore, the UAE and the United States.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ddnews.gov.in\/en\/indias-gold-investments-surge-60-to-rs-1-5-lakh-crore-in-2024-report\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>DDNews<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gold investments in India surged by 60% in 2024, reaching $18 billion (approx Rs 1.5 lakh crore), compared to 2023, according to the World Gold Council (WGC) report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37021"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51069,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37021\/revisions\/51069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}