India's industry bodies propose monetizing household gold to curb imports
India's industry bodies are proposing a plan to monetize household gold (yep, the jewelry and coins sitting in lockers) to help cut down massive gold imports, which hit $71.9 billion in FY 2025-26.
With the rupee at record lows and the economy feeling the pinch, PM Modi has asked people to hold off on buying more gold, while industry groups are pushing for ways to use existing household gold to balance trade.
Proposals back jewelry exports and deposits
Industry proposals include letting imported gold be used mainly for jewelry exports and tweaking tax rules to make gold deposit schemes more attractive.
If you deposit your gold, you could earn around 2% to 2.5% interest, better than just letting it gather dust!
But for this plan to really work, jewelers need to get on board and secure vaults are a must.
The big picture: India has about 30,000 tons of household gold (if even part of that enters the system, it could seriously reduce our reliance on imports and help steady the economy).